Upgrade
by Luki Dimension
Summary: Sequel to Format. Some wounds need more than time and a lick of paint to heal.
1. Maggie

_That's right, I'm back, with Epona Harper betaing._

_Upgrade will probably update slower than Format did, if just because I'm still getting back into the act or writing after ignoring it so long, and because I'm not throwing the first chapters out – they've actually got a semi-plot to them now_

_So, enjoy_

**Disclaimer**: I do not, have never, and probably will never own anything to do with Transformers.

* * *

Chapter 1: Maggie

The meteor lit up everything in its radius, the noise of its impact sending dozens of small animals that lived in the area fleeing for their lives. Every creature fled in the opposite direction, save for one Lamborghini Reventon, which shuddered in relief before revving its engine.

"Finally…" Starscream hissed, rolling away from the wreckage he had caused earlier and rolled back onto the road, heading straight for the impact zone.

The last few months had been hell. Lying low, hiding from Autobots, having to keep his wings clipped…He had plans but no resources with which to begin them. But then, like a beacon from Primus, signals. Glorious, wonderful, Decepticon signals. The majority would still take a few earth months to arrive, but this arrival could start things off nicely.

The Decepticon was just climbing out of the crater when he swerved to a stop. He transformed quickly, but not fast enough for the new arrival to not get a good look at the car, and sniggered.

"What in the pit is that?"

Starscream glared at him. "Necessity, Hook. Those slaggers are keeping an eye on every meteor heading to this planet. I head towards any with wings and they'll be on me faster than I can process. Speaking of which, they'll be here soon enough so let's move it! I ran a vehicle off the road nearby, so scan it and let's get out of here. You can pick something else later."

Hook rolled his optics. "Mute it, Starscream. You may be officially in power now, but the only reason any Decepticons other than your Seekers are going to show up is to get revenge for Megatron. You'll have to do something pretty impressive to get them to follow you permanently."

Starscream smirked. "And you?"

Hook walked past him, heading for the road. "I'm here to avenge Bonecrusher. That's all."

A hand grabbed his neck, and Hook quickly shut up to save any damage to his vocal processors, and braced himself as Starscream yanked him back, crashing him to the ground. A foot stamped onto his chest, and the former jet sneered down at him.

"Listen up, Hook. You may not like me, and I'm not all that fond of you, but, right now, I AM the superior force, and we can both benefit from each other's cooperation. But, if you won't acknowledge my leadership, I'm willing to wait for someone who will."

The pressure on Hook's chest increased. "I've already waited a vorn. What's a few more cycles…"

Hook winced.

"Wait, wait Starscream! I've information from Soundwave."

The foot stilled, not abandoning its position but not increasing pressure. "What information?"

"One of his spies intercepted an Autobot spy. He sent me some schematics before the news of Megatron's demise. Could be exactly what you're looking for."

The foot finally left his chest, and Starscream chuckled.

"Schematics from an Autobot spy? If that means what it better mean, then perhaps we can work something out."

A few minutes later, two vehicles roared off into the twilight.

* * *

Maggie Madsen stepped into the airport with no little amount of trepidation. Even with the money and knowledge she would get from this six-month contract, she was starting to have second thoughts.

Still, the smiling face of Robert Epps did ease her nerves.

"Maggie, good to meet you. Properly this time."

She smiled, shaking his hand and falling in step with him as he took her suitcase and headed for the door. "Likewise. So what's the plan? New accommodation or orientation first?"

Epps smirked. "Orientation. We figured you'd need time to settle in afterwards."

As he headed for the military truck, he noticed Maggie stopped, her hesitation obvious, and the grin widened.

"Don't worry – this one's for personal use. Completely inanimate without keys."

Maggie sighed. "I'm going to be completely in over my head with this right?"

"Oh you'll get used to it."

* * *

After signing a stack of forms half the width of a phone book, Maggie hadn't expected to hear about the Cybertronian events ever again. Both her she and Glen had been warned about interfering, and, though it was driving her friend nuts, she'd found comfort in going back to the understandable.

So when she was summoned back to the Secretary of Defence's Office almost a year later, she was in for a shock.

"You want me to what?" she asked, disbelief dissolving any manners.

"Work as a governmental liaison to the Autobots," Keller repeated, clearly expecting this.

Maggie shook her head. "To…help develop a programme that can block Decepticon hackers"

Keller nodded. "So far, all of our attempts have failed, and we cannot risk another communications blackout like the one before the events of Mission City.

…Which meant more of the bad guys were arriving or were already here. So much for her 'comfortable safety.'

"We need someone to actually work at their base full time. Analyse their own securities and modify them for our own systems. Your name was at the top of the list of choices.

He hesitated for a moment, and sighed.

"There is another reason."

Her eyes narrowed.

"I can't tell you the full story. It's surrounded by enough red tape to wallpaper this building three times over, but I can give you the general gist. The Autobots have received a…Youngling, a child of their race, since arriving. Probably the last because of the destruction of their All Spark."

"If you tell me you're sending me there to be a babysitter…" she started

"Let me finish. How this Youngling came into being is Top Secret. Only a select few know, and only a portion of them has the right to explain it. A month ago, Reginald Simmons kidnapped him, and, well, the reports weren't pretty. The kid was pretty traumatised by it all." Keller sighed, sounding ten years older. "Can't say I blame him. Damn Simmons to hell for crossing that line."

"But what does this have to do with me?" Maggie asked.

"It's been a month," Keller explained. "And the Autobots have noticed that this Youngling, Deuce is his name, is still fairly nervous around humans. He's tolerating a few, but anyone he doesn't know, he just vanishes until they leave. They want a more permanent stranger to be around regularly, to help regain his trust in people, but they're refusing anyone who had anything to do with Sector 7."

And if you removed them, the pool of people who knew about the Autobots suddenly became a lot smaller.

"I see…" Maggie replied, mind running over this information, trying to fill in the blanks she was left with.

She'd been given a few days to think it over, but, at the end of the day, there had been no real choice at all. America's computer systems (and the rest of the world's, in reality) needed to be upgraded, and she would never forgive herself if she didn't take this opportunity. Not to mention what Glen would have done to her if she'd refused. She hadn't been allowed to tell him what she was being assigned to, but the hacker probably had enough data to guess where the Autobots were hiding out to figure that is wasn't run-of-the-mill analysis she would be doing.

But still, she bit her lip as the Autobots base came into view. How did you make a good impression on a race of machines that were probably alive when the dinosaurs were just a possibility? And weren't too impressed with your race right now?

* * *

As they got closer, the doors opened and Epps nodded.

"Thought it would be Optimus that greeted you. You'll probably be working with Jazz most of the time, but meeting the big guy himself should help ease your nerves."

She took her eyes off the mountain of machine they were heading towards to stare at Epps incredulously. "Seriously?"

Epps laughed as the car stopped. "Seriously. Optimus Prime's huge, but I've never met someone who can make you feel more at ease than him."

He shrugged as he opened his door, prompting Maggie to follow suit.

"You know, so long as you're not trying to kill him or his own."

Optimus hid a smile as he knelt down by the car, watching Maggie stumble and curse about the uneven footing.

"While you work here, Ms Madsen, you may want to consider alternative footwear. That does not appear to be the most stable or efficient design."

Maggie winced as Epps quickly turned a snigger into a snort. He might have a point, heels were great for the city, and for gaining a couple of inches to intimidate the men that swamped her field, but they would be worthless here.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you."

For a moment the leader of the Autobots just stared at her, and then smiled before standing up.

"Well then, shall we get acquainted with the base?"

* * *

-I know a song that'll get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on you-

-Hax! -

-What?-

-If you don't stop singing, I'll rip you out of my processor manually!-

Hax sighed. –Fine. But when is Ratchet going to finish up. He's been analysing our stupid spark forever!-

Once Deuce had been physically repaired, Ratchet had kept him under watch in fear that his spark would be further mutated, or even collapse after the ordeal that brought Hax into existence. He'd been poking and prodding as much as he dared, trying to find any possible weakness in its development.

Not that this hadn't been informative. Hax certainly had more capabilities than they'd expected. So long as Deuce touched something electronic, the program could transfer into it, and more or less do whatever he wanted, send messages, hack codes, boost signals – although even Hax admitted his success was currently similar to someone mashing buttons on a console hoping to find the 'on' button. He wasn't sure of his limits and often unintentionally overextended himself by accident. The length and strength of his performance seemed to depend on how much of his spark was filtered out from Deuce, which seemed dependant on how long Deuce held onto the item.

Finally, Ratchet stood back up and allowed the Younglings chest plating to slide back into place.

"Well, it looks as if your time on medical watch is over, Deuce" he stated, gesturing that the Youngling could get up from his position on the table. "Both sparks have stabilised around the core."

Deuce leapt to his feet.

"So I can _finally_ start training?"

Ratchet sighed. He was starting to think he was the only one against Deuce taking up arms just yet.

"Possibly. We still have mental issues to work out."

Although only one could be heard, both Deuce and Hax groaned and slumped back into a sitting position, causing Ratchet to chuckle.

"But I'm fine!" Deuce wailed. "Me **and** Hax, we're both perfectly fine."

Ratchet didn't look convinced.

"Come along. Optimus wants to see you both."

* * *

Within minutes, Maggie had to concede that Epps was right. Optimus was large and intimidating, but he had this amazing ability to make her feel 100 feet tall. It was no wonder all that met him spoke with such praise.

They stopped by a locked room, and Maggie noticed a human palm scanner, but could see nothing for the Autobots.

"All the locks in the base can identify us by internal signals" Optimus explained when asked. "But place your hand on the scanner so we can add you to our security banks."

She did as asked, and her jaw dropped as the door slid open…revealing paradise.

Screens took up the majority of the walls, a plethora of machines attached. Keyboards, cooling systems, touch pads – it was an unbelievable system.

"And I get to play with it!" Maggie's inner child squealed.

"Jazz was supposed to be here," Optimus began, walking into the room. "But there were several unexpected meteor showers last night. He, Bumblebee and Ironhide have all gone to check them out."

"Friends of yours?" Maggie asked, drooping when the Autobot shook his head.

"They would have contacted us. At this time, only one of our allies has answered. He will arrive in a few of your earth weeks."

This was new information, and not just to her judging from the look on Epps's face.

"Keller never mentioned that."

"It is a very recent development. We only caught the signal because Ratchet had Hax attempt to boost the communication system. Speaking of which…"

He trailed off as the sound of footsteps echoed through the hall, and a large yellow Autobot came into view.

"You wanted us to meet someone, Prime?"

Optimus smiled. "Miss Madsen, this is Ratchet, our Medical Officer, and this…"

Maggie's eyes dropped to the much-closer-to-eye-level figure.

"…Is Deuce."

But before she could even begin a greeting, the red and white figured spun on one leg, and bolted back the way he came.

* * *

_humaninthebasehumaninthebasehumaninthebasehumaninthebasehumaninthebase_

-Deuce! - Hax wailed. –You have to calm down! -

Behind them, they could hear Ratchet's feet thundering after them, gaining distance on their short burst of speed.

-He is gonna catch us and then you'll panic and you'll be in even more of a mess- the voice in his head squawked. –You need to reset, Deuce! -

The Ducati ignored him, and, sure enough, seconds later Ratchet had his hand clamped around the Youngling and lifted him up.

"I think that proves my point on the 'mental issues', don't you think?" he snapped, and headed back towards the communications room.

"Ratchet!" Deuce wailed. "Not yet! Can't I meet it later?"

-Her, not it- Hax piped up, and Deuce slammed a virtual wall over their link.

"I believe the term is 'she', Deuce" Ratchet replied, causing Deuce to sigh. "And, no, you should meet her now. She is going to be on the base for the foreseeable future, and we want you to at least be able to tolerate her presence. For your own sanity if nothing else."

When they reached the room, Deuce's optics scanned anything but the organic life form in front of him. To counter it, Ratchet merely knelt and released the Youngling a few metres from her, frowning at the obvious shaking in the small bot's frame.

Realising she had to make the first move, Maggie smiled. "Um…hi there. Your name is Deuce?"

The accent was unlike anything he'd heard from humans yet, and it was enough to bring his optics up to glance at her. For a moment he wondered if it would be easier to pretend that it was Sarah Lennox in front of him, but threw that notion out. Sarah's hair was not that bright, not that tall, and didn't have symbols on her neck.

His mouth opened a few times before managing to get words out.

"Yes. Hello…"

-Ask for her name- Hax chided.

Maggie smiled despite herself. It was strange to have what amounted to a young child be taller than her but still shy and nervous. "I'm Maggie, it's nice to meet you."

Taking a chance, Maggie stuck out a hand. Deuce's optics widened, and he started to take a step back before stopping himself. Slowly, his own hand lifted up, and touched her palm. He let her curl her hand around his, not trusting his own strength right now, and let it be shook slightly before quickly bringing it back to his side. With this ceremony out of the way, he sent pleading optics to Optimus, and understanding the silent request, Optimus sighed and nodded.

"All right, Deuce. But stay within the base."

He'd barely finished the sentence before the Youngling flew underneath Ratchet's legs and fled into the corridor.

"Well, that went better than I expected it to," Ratchet mused. "We'll just have to keep going one step at a time."

"Agreed," Optimus replied. "Perhaps when Jazz and Bumblebee return he'll be more relaxed. He gets tense when at least one of them is not around."

Ratchet sighed. "Ah, for the good old days when he was running rings around both of them in an attempt to get away."

It was a longing held by them all. Shaking off the nostalgia, Optimus turned back to their guest.

"Now Miss Madsen, about your clearance on certain files…"

* * *

_To be continued…_


	2. Annabelle

_This was meant to be up weeks ago – however I didn't like the ending of the chapter, and when Epona agreed, it took a while for me to come up with a better alternative. Trust me – the new version was worth the wait. Enjoy._

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Annabelle**

It was nearing midnight when Bumblebee and Jazz returned to the base. However, instead of being greeted at the door as expected, Optimus paged them to meet in his quarters. The reason quickly became obvious when they walked in - a small red and white youngling recharging by his side.

"No sign of Decepticons?"

Jazz shook his head, while Bumblebee drooped.

"One has definitely made planetfall, but I can't say who. By the time I arrived, there were only traces left."

Optimus sighed. "At least its only one. Any sign of Starscream?"

The scout shook his head. "No sign of any jets. If they are meeting, he's being very careful about it."

Which made their job even more difficult. Slag.

Jazz grinned, though the expression didn't reach his optics. "Hey, it's Starscream. He's gonna screw up eventually right?"

Optimus nodded. "We can hope."

He then turned to Bumblebee and gestured to Deuce's still form.

"I need to speak with Jazz. Can you take Deuce to your quarters for the night?"

He'd barely finished before Bumblebee nodded, carefully lifting the youngling away from Optimus. Deuce quickly broke from his recharge at the motion but, when he recognised the hands lifting him, fell back into it as they walked out the door.

"Night, lil'buddy," Jazz murmured as the two walked out the door and focused on his Prime.

"Though Ratchet was acting as substitute big bro when we weren't around."

"Deuce 'isn't speaking' to Ratchet right now," Optimus replied with some amusement. "Ratchet forced him to meet with Miss Madsen today."

Jazz 'ahhed' in understanding. "Kid didn't take it well?"

"His first reaction was to run – and then to avoid visual contact as much as possible before hiding in the most out-of-the-way corner he could find until she left. I don't know how he will take to her coming back tomorrow."

"Ah, slaggit," Jazz muttered, crossing his arms. "And I'll be around her the next few months – that's gonna go down real well with him."

"Are you having second thoughts?" Optimus asked. "This was mostly your idea."

The Pontiac smiled. "Don't worry about it, Optimus. Human relations need some working and our lil'buddy needs more interaction. I'm kinda looking forward to it."

"And if Deuce is upset?"

"He's a lot stronger than we like to think, Optimus," Jazz warned, grin on his face. "This is just gonna take some time."

Optimus returned the smile.

"Well then, do you want to see the security tapes during Miss Madsen's visit?"

* * *

When Deuce had still been a sparkling, having him recharge with someone was a necessity. Sparklings would often wake up disoriented and panicked, and having the stability of an older mech would calm them. Since Deuce had become a youngling, he'd been nagging for his own quarters, a request they had been ready to consider, until Simmon's abduction. Since then, Deuce hadn't brought the subject up and refused to recharge alone. And they didn't dare leave him by himself - he'd brought more than one of them out of recharge with a shriek when he woke up without someone by his side.

The youngling moaned in protest when the arm cradle suddenly shifted, but crawled down onto the berth when Bumblebee sat down, optics brightening to stave off recharge for a few minutes.

"Did you find Starscream?" he asked, laying his head and chest on Bumblebee's leg. Bumblebee shook his head, and Deuce averted his optics, idly scratching the paint on his guardian's leg. His expression was somewhat torn, which Bumblebee wasn't too sure about. Deuce still refused to speak about what had happened when Starscream had found him, no matter what tactic they used.

"How was your day?" he asked, quickly jerking the youngling out of his thoughts. It seemed a poor question though, as Deuce groaned and flipped onto his torso, moaning at the roof.

"A new human was here, and stupid Ratchet said I had to meet her."

Ah. How could he have forgotten? Deuce had been aware that plans had been in place for a new human ambassador, but hadn't know who or when they would arrive to keep him from bolting. And neither Jazz or himself had been around to aid him. Slag Starscream to the pits.

"Was it really that bad?" Bumblebee asked, brushing a finger over the youngling's helm. Said youngling merely sighed again, and refused to meet Bee's optics.

"Hax thinks I'm being stupid." Deuce muttered. "He doesn't get it."

And with that, his optics dimmed, and the youngling fell back into recharge.

* * *

Even after seeing how fluidly Optimus could move, Maggie was still taken aback by the sight of Jazz leaning back on the chair as far as it could go, arm slung over the back with only his feet gripping the console for balance.

"What's crackin', Miss Madsen?" he greeted. "Or do you mind Maggie?"

Recovering with the grace of one used to eccentric behaviour, Maggie smiled back. "Maggie is fine."

As she walked in, the mech pulled the chair back into its upright position.

"Sorry there's no official seat for you," he apologised. "I wanted to get a swivel chair, but we kinda gave up looking when we realised none would reach without having a height risk. Ratchet put his foot down on that."

"Probably for the best," Maggie replied, already warming to the mech. "If you'd installed a swivel chair I'd probably never get any work done."

Jazz laughed. "Oh yeah, still trying to convince Optimus to let me jerryrig this one for that. Seems to think I'll spin it right off its hinges."

'_That would be something to see_' Maggie mused. The tapping of keys brought her back, and focused on reality.

"Okay then, Maggie, what do you want to see first?"

Before she could reply, thunder echoed outside the room, and the door opened to reveal a nervous, yellow mech that was frighteningly familiar.

"Jazz, have you seen-"

The Pontiac was already shaking his head. "Sorry, Bee, I've been expecting 'company' and he knew it. Haven't seen him."

Jazz had gestured in Maggie's direction at 'company' and Bumblebee's optics swung onto her.

"Oh, sorry," Bumblebee apologised. "I didn't know you had already arrived. I am Bumblebee – I believe we crossed paths at Hoover Dam?"

Maggie nodded and smiled in recognition. "Only briefly"

"I'll give you a call if I spot him," Jazz promised, and when the yellow bot left, Maggie threw him a questioning look, and the Pontiac began fiddling with the control panels again.

"He's looking for Deuce," he explained. "He must have slipped out before Bumblebee woke up. Our lil' buddy's good at that."

"Hiding from me?"

Jazz nodded. "Trying to avoid a repeat of yesterday. If I'm lucky, I can catch him on one of the monitors, but he's annoyingly good at avoiding them."

In response, one of the screens flickered into life, showing various areas of the base.

"In a perfect world, we'd have a Security Director to handle all this," Jazz explained. "I've some experience, but nothing like what we'd prefer."

"Any chance one might show up?" Maggie asked.

"We can hope. For now, just keep an optic on the monitors for any movement. And if we don't catch him, there's always plan B."

Maggie frowned. "What's plan B?"

Jazz snickered. "Plan B is currently in Ironhide's backseat. Deuce won't be expecting that."

* * *

A few hours later, Maggie was knee deep in formulaic equations – god bless numbers for being a language without borders, with Jazz explaining the methodology, when he suddenly cut off, head to one side. It only lasted a moment before he recovered, grinning at the analyst.

"And Ironhide is back. Think you're up for a break?"

* * *

When it came to staying out of sight, Deuce had one golden rule. Up. The Autobots were so used to looking down at him it rarely occurred to them to check over their heads.

Right now he was huddled in one of his favourite spots. A corner of the base's main room, huddled behind a support beam which was in the nearby camera's blind spot. It was a pretty vicious climb, only possible due to some loose panelling and using the wall wiring as support. Ironhide would probably short circuit if he knew about such an obvious flaw in the building, but since it was only accessible by those already in the base, Deuce was keeping quiet.

-So- Hax began, -are we just going to spend the next six months up here? -

Deuce shrugged, shrinking back as he watched Bumblebee enter the room and head for the exit. –Maybe. –

-Well, if you're planning that, do you think you could grab an iPod and let me drain your spark dry? Cause this is gonna get boring pretty fast. –

-Don't tempt me – Deuce warned. –I might just send you off for good. –

-Aww don't be like that. You know you'd miss me. –

The Ducati sighed in annoyance. As much as he hated to admit it, Hax was the only thing making this entire situation bearable. Maggie would occupy jazz, and Bumblebee, whom it was normally possible to sweet talk into bending to Deuce's will, would no doubt be as firm on making him interact as much as possible. Hax, while maybe not understanding Deuce's phobia, at least seemed to appreciate the complexity of the situation. It was something Deuce had to deal with at his own pace.

There was a commotion on the ground, and Deuce pulled his concentration back. He tensed as Jazz and Maggie walked in, while Ironhide-the-truck rolled into the base, followed by Bumblebee.

-Deuce- Hax piped up, breaking Deuce away from the scene. –Do you wish I wasn't around? –

The Ducati's optics flickered. –Huh? –

-Seriously – Hax pressed. –Would you rather be alone? The whole how-I-came-into-existence part ignored. –

-…I don't know- Deuce finally replied. –Would I rather have not been kidnapped, yes. Would I rather not have you around, I don't know. You're just…there. I don't think I remember what its like for you not to be there anymore. –

Hax didn't answer, and so Deuce pressed on.

-Why are you asking? –

It was frightening how well a program could emulate a sigh without any actual voice or components capable of the action. –Ever get the feeling that something is gonna happen, but have no clue what it is or what it'll do? –

-Not really. –

-It bites, big time. And it's making me nervous. –

Deuce quickly filed this conversation under 'topics that must not be discussed in front of Ratchet.'

-Hey, is that who I think it is? –

The Ducati looked down again, and optics widened as a childish giggle echoed in the base.

* * *

Will grinned, repositioning the squirming bundle in his hands as the only other human darted towards them. "You must be Maggie."

The woman barely gave him a look before leaning down and cooing. "She is adorable! I just wanna take her home!"

Annabelle smiled up at her, clearly at ease despite the giant robots surrounding her, flattered by the attention.

"That seems to be a general desire," Will replied.

Quickly realising her rudeness, Maggie straightened and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I think it's a genetic obligation for women to coo at babies."

Will laughed. "Oh its not the first time. I'm Will."

"Right. The chief military liason."

"Got it in one."

He glanced around as Ironhide transformed, while Optimus strolled in with Ratchet, nodding to them in greeting before returning to Maggie.

"And this here is Annabelle. My angel, the apple of my eye and Autobot charm."

Looking over Will's shoulder, Annabelle smiled at the word, and held up her hands at Ironhide.

"Audobods."

And wasn't that just the cutest thing Maggie had ever seen?

"Deuce is somewhat, infatuated, with Annabelle," Ironhide explained. "Every time they've come in contact with each other he refuses to leave without her. He once smuggled her into the base without my knowledge."

Jazz chuckled. "That was rather sweet."

"No. That was terrifying," Will muttered, glaring at Ironhide. "Sarah and I didn't know where she was, and you weren't helpful."

"Your sparkling was returned within the hour Will Lennox, none the worse for wear."

"But I was missing at least ten years of my life."

Maggie stared at them all incredulously, putting two and two together and not liking what she found.

"So you're using your daughter as…bait?"

"He'd never hurt her," Will defended. "And they're never unsupervised if we can help it."

"But do you really think that-"

Maggie broke off, as she caught movement by Optimus Prime's foot, and the mech looked down at the small Ducati currently peering round it. The other Autobots grinned at the appearance, except for Ratchet who was scanning the area in irritation.

"Now just where were you hiding to get here that fast?"

Deuce just winked with an optic, and then started staring at Annabelle and Maggie. Optimus was the furthest away from the woman, but Will was standing almost right next to her. Maggie, seeing the tenseness in the youngling's frame, quickly stepped back, walking closer to Jazz.

With Maggie no longer in Annabelle's direct radius, Deuce slipped out from Optimus's shadow and darted up to Will, holding out his hands with a hopeful smile. Annabelle was already ahead of him, hands outstretched. Once he had the toddler, he ran back to Optimus, sitting down behind the bot's leg. The mech frowned as he looked over his shoulder.

"Deuce…"

The youngling just glanced up at him, expression challenging. When Optimus moved, forcing Deuce to be visible, the mech leapt to his feet, skidding on the ground and flying for the door to the rest of the base.

"Deuce!" Ratchet screeched, while Bumblebee flew after him.

"I'm on it!"

* * *

Knowing whoever followed him would check quarters and the medibay first; Deuce picked the most unlikely place to hide. Maggie and Jazz's current play area. The Control Room.

He couldn't help but giggle as he watched Bumblebee run past on the monitors, but quickly stopped when Annabelle joined in.

"Ah, shhh, shhh," he whispered, digit on the toddlers lips. When he was certain Bumblebee wasn't heading back, he dropped to the ground and set Annabelle down. She immediately struggled to her feet and took a few shaky steps forward, heading for the control panel. She seemed transfixed by the lights.

Deuce smiled, leaning down on the ground, head propped on his arms, content to watch the little human waddle around.

"You're getting better at it, Annabelle."

As if tempting fate, the girl immediately fell down, making irritated noises since she was too small to reach the controls. To grab her attention, Deuce flashed his own headlights, and flickered through radio waves for quick, distracting sound bytes. Sure enough, the toddler quickly crawled back to the easier-to-access shinyflashymusttouchness, laughing when Deuce rolled onto his back so she could paw his front properly.

"You're not scared of anything are you?" Deuce murmured, staring at the infant. "Not really. Not when you should be."

He sighed. "Me and Ironhide, we could crush you, and you don't even realise it. You're in so much danger when you're with us, and you don't know it. When you get bigger, you wont even think to be afraid."

His optics dimmed. "Then one day, you will realise it. You'll get hurt or maybe your mother or your father will. And you'll be scared. Scared of everything you thought you knew. It'll choke you."

Lifting himself up, Annabelle slipped away from his plating, falling down again. Deuce cocked his head and gave a sad smile as he watched her.

"When that day comes, will you get through it all? Can you make things the way they were before? Or will you be like me and Mikky?"

Annabelle's arms lifted up in a wordless demand to be picked up, and Deuce complied, holding the toddler close.

"Lost. Stuck. Unable to process."

"Doos," Annabelle murmured.

"I don't know what to do, Annabelle," Deuce whispered. "And nobody can help me figure it out."

Outside, Bumblebee stood frozen, unable to move into the room after over-hearing the conversation. His hand curled in anger, and for the seemingly endless time, cursed the world for this situation.

Forcing his hands to relax, he stood straight, and walked back towards Optimus and the others.

This time around, it might be best to leave Deuce alone. Just for a while.

_To be continued…_

* * *

_So we've had Maggie, and then Annabelle...can you guess whose next? _


	3. Mikaela

**Chapter 3 - Mikaela**

Maggie had been coming to the base for little over two weeks, and she was beginning to wonder if she'd ever see Deuce for more than 2 minutes at a time. The mech was born to hide, she reasoned. How else could he have billion year old war veterans chasing after him, cursing when they realised he'd slipped out of sight again?

"I don't care how much Bumblebee complains. I'm taking over his training when he's old enough to specialise," Jazz had mentioned when she brought it up. "Kid could be a good scout, but anyone with optics can see he was born to go into infiltration."

"Isn't he a little young?" Maggie had asked, and Jazz sighed.

"Yeah, but he's a unique case being…ah…created on earth. His development is way accelerated – back on Cybertron he'd barely be forming words yet."

"Still," Maggie mused, "it seems pretty quick."

"Ratchet will be elated he has another supporter." Jazz replied dryly. "But we don't have much of a choice. He's armed and untrained, and there's few combinations less dangerous. Plus probably do wonders for his confidence."

That Maggie admitted, was probably true.

"So when will you start?" she asked, and took a step back when Jazz gave a smile she was beginning to recognise as 'evil.'

"Oh, given our little buddy's desire to start, we figured the day after he's willing to be in the same room have a civil conversation with you."

Maggie hit her head against the control panel and groaned. "Why am I even surprised anymore?"

Jazz cackled. "You make it waay to easy."

He swung back to the control panel and the smile faded.

"Wait a nanoclick..."

The mech punched in a sequence, and the monitors immediately changed from the rudimentary firewall the two had been deconstructing to airwaves and an image of the solar system. For almost a minute, he stood stock still, optics focused on the screen, oblivious to Maggie's calls. She was starting to think about calling in one of the others when a red blip suddenly glowed on the screen, and Jazz punched the air in delight.

"Oh, yeah! Our weary traveller made better time than we guessed. He'll be here in days."

"Can you reach him?" Maggie asked, while behind her the door opened to admit all the Autobots save Deuce, and Will and Epps into the room.

"The signal, Jazz?" Optimus queried. "Can he receive?"

Both Jazz and Ratchet were at the controls, desperately trying to pin down the signal.

"Negative Prime. The tech just isn't up to standard, and even if it was, our traveller wouldn't recognise the signal."

"The issues with earth material again?" Will asked, receiving a distracted nod from Ironhide in return.

"Most of the systems here aren't close to Cybertronian standards," Epps explained to Maggie. "So there was a fear that Autobots wouldn't recognise our transmissions as friendly and ignore them. Guess it wasn't just a fear."

Ratchet snarled, slapping the panels in disgust. "This isn't going to work. We'll have to wait until he gets closer."

"But if we wait too long and still can't contact him, there's no telling where he'll land," Optimus said. "We need to boost the signal while we can reach him. Hax has done that before, perhaps he can make contact this time."

Jazz flicked on his comm. "Worth a try."

* * *

-You've been quiet for a while. –

-Hmm? –

-Spill it- Deuce snapped. –You're planning something aren't you? –

-Sheesh, somebody is on edge today- Hax moaned. –Oh, incoming. –

Deuce's comm. blipped, and Jazz's voice came through.

'_Hey little buddy,' _he said in greeting. _'Need a favour. Getting another signal from our travelling 'bot, but we can't get a hold of him. Need to borrow that voice in your head for a couple of nanoclicks."_

'_Is the hu-'_

_-Maggie!_ – Hax snapped, and Deuce groaned.

'_Is Maggie there_?'

Jazz sighed. _'Oh come on little buddy! Me, Optimus Bumblebee, Ironhide AND Ratchet will be there too, plus Will and Epps, and you like them don't cha?'_

'…_Promise?'_

'_Cross my spark and hope to offline. Again.'_

Deuce sighed, and began the climb down, trying to ignore Hax's whoops of joy.

* * *

Jazz was waiting outside the door when he finally made it to the control room. Deuce immediately perked up when he realised Jazz was alone, and ran the rest of the way, easily leaping to the Pontiac's shoulder.

"Everyone inside?"

"Yep," Jazz said. "Figured you might want some height confidence."

Deuce raised an optic ridge. "So **you** came out?"

Jazz glared at him. "Hey, Ironhide was all for having you walk in. Beggars can't be choosers."

In reply, Deuce merely hugged Jazz's head. "I know. Sorry."

The glare was already gone, and Jazz chuckled as they entered. "I know, little buddy, I know."

* * *

While the majority of Autobots gathered round the controls, giving Deuce advice and instructions, Bumblebee kept back the humans, knowing Deuce and Hax needed to concentrate. It also gave him a chance to thoroughly confuse Maggie.

"Wait, I thought the kid's name was Deuce?"

"It is."

"So…who is this 'Hax' they keep talking about."

Bumblebee sighed. "Hax is…a unique case. He started out as a program in Deuce's head, but now he's more like a spark-joined twin."

This didn't really help.

"Spark-jointed."

"Think conjoined twins," Will offered helpfully.

"Hax is alive in some sense," Bumblebee continued, "but he can't survive without Deuce's spark. He can, however, be transferred into other machines for limited amounts of time. If he can connect to our friends signal, he can make planet fall inconspicuously with the right data."

Around the controls, the Autobots backed off, with Optimus kneeling in front of the Youngling.

"Hax has the data?"

Deuce nodded.

"Then in your own time."

Slowly, Deuce placed a hand on the panels specifically trying to contact the beacon.

-You ready Hax? –

-Hah! – the voice laughed. –This'll be a piece of cake. –

There was a tightness in his spark, the automatic tenseness Hax left when he was draining what he needed, before the connection snapped, leaving Deuce alone.

* * *

Hax liked being with Deuce. When he wasn't being miserable, Deuce was good company, and nobody knew him better than Hax.

But when he was on his own, the tender threads of spark reminding him of home, he could understand the need others had for bodies of their own. This was a different existence in and of itself. Lost in the hum of electricity and machines, he was prime, a master. Nobody could touch him.

He flew across the airwaves, trapping the signal and crawling to its source, formatting his own signal as he went. By the time he reached their new friend, the signal was gratefully accepted as Cybertronian, even if the original source wasn't.

"Bah weep granah weep ninni bong!" Hax chimed. "Due to technical difficulties, I'll be your travel guide for this transmission."

Amusement flickered down the line. "It's been far too long since I heard a Youngling." The mech uttered a Cybertronian name before continuing. "What's your name little one?"

"Hax."

The amusement turned to confusion. "I'm sorry, your designation was corrupt, what did you say?"

If he'd had hands, Hax would have slapped himself. Of course a new arrival wouldn't know English. He wouldn't be able to pick up the Internet until he was less than a day in. Which left him with a problem.

"My designation is only in the native language," he explained. "I don't have a Cybertronian one."

Which was true. Deuce had one, a word indecipherable for humans, hence the referencing as 'Sparkling' and 'Youngling,' but the topic had never come up for Hax.

"What!" the Autobot squawked. "Of all the-"

"It's complicated," Hax cut in. "Anyway, I need to send you coordinates. To make sure you land low-key."

The mech happily obliged, and Hax transferred the files from the computer, and dragged them up the channel.

"I'm impressed, youngling," the mech replied. "I didn't think Optimus had the tech to allow conversation from this far away. Much less be used by a youngling."

"He doesn't," Hax replied. "It's all me. I'm 'unique'."

The mech laughed. "So it would seem nameless one. I look forward to meeting face-to-face."

_That's gonna be difficult_, Hax mused. "I need to go."

"Goodbye, youngling. Give Ironhide my regards."

"Does he know you?"

"We've met," the mech replied. "His advice has been priceless. Perhaps he will remember."

And with that, they both closed the connection.

* * *

When the connection cut off, Deuce had expected Deuce to rejoin him. Instead, the program hooked himself into the still incomplete base comm. System.

"Mission accomplished, Optimus."

The mech smiled. "Good job, Hax. Did you get a designation?"

What followed was, to the humans, a random set of frequencies and tones, quickly followed by English.

"He says he's met Ironhide. I couldn't hold the connection any longer."

"That's all right, Hax. Ironhide, do you know him?"

The Topkick's arms were crossed, face twisted in thought.

"I've heard the name before," he replied. "But slag if I remember where. Think it was to do with a weapons upgrade."

"His designation is familiar to me, too," Ratchet admitted. "I think we met pre-war. He may have been a scientist."

"Perhaps memories will be revived on meeting him," Optimus replied. "Let me know of any new developments."

"Always, do boss."

Deuce, ready to leave, paced his hand on the console again, only to find Hax reluctant to rejoin him.

"Actually, Deuce, I wanna hang here for a while" the program said. "I want to introduce myself to Maggie. I'll come back when I run out of energy."

"Perhaps you should stick around 'til he's done little buddy" Jazz piped up.

Deuce furiously shook his head, and leaped for the door, only to find it blocked by Ratchet's foot.

"Fine," the medic snapped. "If you can't be civil you can come help me in the med bay. You're not performing that vanishing act again."

Cowed, Deuce threw a glare in the console's direction before following the medic, with Optimus, Bumblebee and Ironhide close behind.

"First things first," Hax said. "Maggie, I'm Hax. We probably won't see much of each other, for obvious and not so obvious reasons, but nice to meet you all the same."

Maggie smiled and gave a halfhearted wave. "Likewise. Maybe when Deuce gets more used to me we'll meet more often."

"That'd be good."

Jazz brought up the firewall they'd been deconstructing earlier. "So, you wanna help us out with this."

"Sorry, but I have something I have to do."

And the audio system shut down.

* * *

Hours later, Deuce was spitting complaints while he handled a mop, dejectedly cleaning the floor.

"I'm hearing more complaining than I am mopping, Deuce."

"Can't I go now?" Deuce moaned slamming the mop down for good measure.

"No. I need to keep this room in perfect condition, and my cleaning supplies are limited. Luckily for me, you're small enough to use human equivalents. After this you can help me polish the rest of my tools."

The whine that came from the Youngling was one of pure torture, and Ratchet chuckled.

"Get used to it, kid. You need to start learning how to pull your weight around here. No more slipping off to hide."

Deuce didn't answer, but when Ratchet heard the clink of the mop hitting the floor, he turned to berate the Youngling, only to see him starting to sway.

"Deuce?"

"Something…doesn't feel…"

His voice trailed off, feet repositioning themselves for better balance. Something was wrong, his basic functions were glitching.

The Youngling's knees buckled, and the red bike crashed to the ground. Ratchet bolted to his side, already scanning his young charge. He'd fallen into involuntary stasis.

"Deuce!"

* * *

Mikaela threw her bag on the bed and turned her computer on. She winced and ran her hands threw her hair.

"Gods…"

It hadn't been an easy few months. It seemed every time she went out the door she was halfway to the Autobot base before she realised what she was doing.

And part of her wanted to. She really, really did.

She just couldn't do it.

Msn popped up. One new email, from an address she didn't recognise. It looked safe, but the second she opened it, the computer cut out.

"Dammit. Should have upgraded my virus software."

Then the computer booted up again, frighteningly fast. Before she could register the action, Msn opened up with a new contact.

'_Hey, Mikaela.'_

She frowned and typed in. _'Who is this?'_

'_You know who I am,'_ Hax typed. '_I know they told you about me_.'

Mikaela paled, and tried to turn the computer off to no avail. The same for the plug.

'_You won't get rid of me that easily,'_ Hax replied. _'I'm in the computer, and I'm not leaving until we talk.'_

"I'm not ready to talk," Mikaela muttered, only for the window to counter.

'_Yes, you are. You're just too scared to.'_

Mikaela sat back down, arms wrapped around her chest. "You're really in the computer?"

'_I was in the email. Once you opened it, I took over everything, including the web camera and microphone, so you don't have to type. So, why are you avoiding Deuce?'_

"It's complicated…" she started, only to be interrupted again.

'_That was rhetorical. I already know, and honestly, the answer is probably yes.'_

Mikeala bit her lip. "And the question?"

'_Is Deuce always going to remind you of Sam? Yes. He can't help it any more than I can,' _Hax explained. _'We're not him, but so many fragments are still flying around our systems. Fighting them is impossible, so don't punish Deuce for it.'_

"I'm not punishing him!" Mikaela snapped.

'_Yes, you are,'_ Hax countered. _'He's scared, lost, and desperately needs comfort. And one of the few humans he's comfortable around hasn't even come to say 'hi.' He's miserable.'_

For a while, Mikaela didn't answer, eyes clouded in thought. She eventually loosened her arms and propped them on the desk.

"It's hard for me, too," she finally replied. "He's not the only one suffering."

'_I know,'_ Hax typed_. 'But the difference is that you can do something about it. He's too scared to leave the base without an escort, and the Autobots want 'to give you your space.'_

Despite everything, Mikaela smiled. "Déjà vu."

Suddenly, the screen started to fizz in a way similar to interference on a TV set.

'_Aw crap, that's me out of juice. I have to slingshot now_.'

Mikaela nodded. "Are you coming back?" she asked, not sure what answer she wanted.

'_No,'_ Hax wrote. _'From now on, the balls in your court. C U. xxx'_

Her eyes widened at the farewell, even as Hax's status changed to offline.

That was how Sam had always ended chats with her.

Sighing, she turned the computer off and flopped onto her bed.

"All right, Hax," she said. "I get the point."

_To be continued . . ._


	4. Interlude

Well now, something didn't want this chapter written.

Seriously, if it wasn't a convention to prepare for, it was me catching the mother of all flu's, or writer's block (hence why it's a very short chapter considering how long I had you all waiting for it). Ironically the final segment only came into being **after **being sent to EH for betaing.

I promise that the next chapter will be superior – this one I felt, just had to go out on its own.

* * *

**Upgrade 4 – Interlude**

"Ratchet?"

"The answer is still the same, Bumblebee," the medic snapped. "There is no explanation for the collapse."

Seconds after the youngling had fallen; Ratchet had rushed him to a table and inspected him while contacting the others. Both Will and Maggie had watched from the sidelines, before the time made it prudent to leave. With a firm 'call me if there's a change,' Will had left with Maggie, offering an invite to meet his wife, which she accepted.

"I don't understand it!" Ironhide growled for the tenth time. "Mechs don't just collapse!"

"Well whatever the reason is, I can't find it," Ratchet replied, gesturing to the now achingly familiar diagrams. "As far as I can tell, he should be up and complaining right now."

None of them brought up what they were all thinking. That this incident was related to the damaged received during his abduction. Deuce had been through enough. They prayed to Primus that this was just a random occurrence.

Finally not an hour after sunset, Deuce's optics flashed online, and pushed himself up to face Autobots ploughing through the door.

* * *

As the pull became impossible to ignore, Hax slipped from Mikaela's computer and fled back down the invisible line to Deuce as he had so many times before.

It didn't take a second before he realised something was wrong. A moment after realisation, the line snapped, leaving him frozen in nothingness.

-What the? –

The darkness filled with images, millions of tiny TV screens flashing on and off, their sounds clashing together in an impossible symphony.

Running down a street…

…Bells ringing…

…A blonde human grinning over bloody knees…

…A Decepticon screaming…

…Dog barking…

…Calm intermingled with panic…

Memories. Each and everyone on of them. And not a one his.

Suddenly, as quickly as they had come, they vanished, and Hax was flying once again.

* * *

-Ugh…what hit me? –

-What the hell was that? –

Deuce wanted to wince at Hax's shriek, soundless as it was, but his body was still refusing to listen. Instead he took the direct route.

-Hax shut up! Hurts to think. –

-Hey…what are you doing in stasis anyway? –

The lights of the med bay hit his optics and Deuce groaned. –I have no idea, but I think I'm about to find out. –

The lights became clearer, and the blur above him solidified into Ratchet, who quickly masked his obvious relief with irritation.

"I don't know what you did to yourself youngling but if you ever sca-"

He yelped as another yellow mass pushed past him, jerking him out of the way to make room for the Camaro.

"Bumblebee!" Ratchet yelled moving back to his spot. "Show some res-"

He squawked again as Jazz bolted past him, cuffing his shoulder and sending him swerving again.

"Deuce," Bumblebee soothed. "Are you alright?"

"Gave us quite the scare little buddy."

"Bumblebee, Jazz," Optimus boomed, walking into the room at a slightly more sedate pace. "Try to show some respect for Ratchet. This is his med bay."

"Thank you!" Ratchet snapped, glaring daggers at the two, who at least had the sense to look guilty.

"Wh-what happened?" Deuce asked, forcing himself to sit up. "I was cleaning with Ratchet, and then…"

"You collapsed for no reason," Ratchet continued. "It's been hours since then."

Deuce looked at the medic in disbelief, but his own chronometer agreed – it was far later than his processor was insisting.

"But…why?"

Ratchet sighed. "I don't know. But it looks like you're going under medical watch again."

-Oh boy- Hax sighed.

The youngling's optics bugged. "But I just got out!"

"Tough."

Deuce threw a pleading gaze at Optimus. "It won't happen again. Promise!"

Optimus's optics narrowed. "I highly doubt you can promise that, Deuce, given that you don't know what caused it in the first place. Or am I mistaken?"

He wasn't, and Deuce dropped his head. "No…"

"Then you'll report to Ratchet when he requests it," Optimus continued. "If you don't we'll have to confine you to the med bay. Understood."

Deuce kicked the table in irritation, but nodded.

-Guess this means no more hiding all day- Hax mused.

-Shut up. –

* * *

Despite his best attempts, Deuce had been quarantined to the med bay that night, and only released in the morning with the understanding that he stay in contact with at least one of the Autobots at all times. So when Maggie had arrived once again, Ironhide hadn't been surprised to find the youngling following him out to the firing range, as far as he was allowed to go from the base.

"You're not exactly being subtle, Deuce," he'd mocked between shots.

The youngling just shrugged, watching the weapons specialist fire round after round. When the set of targets had been obliterated, and he waited for them to reload, Deuce was by his side, looking up at him in awe.

"Teach me."

His arm was already twitching, wanting to morph into his gun, and his optics endearing. Technically, Deuce could have used the practise range himself. But although he could fire with no problem, he had no idea how to aim, how to gauge the power needed in a shot. It was difficult to say no. But no it was.

"No."

Deuce's optics dimmed – reminding Ironhide of Annabelle's so called 'puppy dog eyes.'

"Don't even think it, kid."

"But whyyyyy?"

Ironhide sighed. Oh for the days when the youngling couldn't talk back.

"Prime **and** Ratchet's orders for one thing, runt," he started, glancing down at the bike.

"And you're too young."

"Technically I'm too young to be talking and transforming," Deuce muttered, crossing his arms. "But I can do them just fine."

"Fine, you're physically old enough," Ironhide continued. "But not emotionally. I can't in good conscience teach you how to fight. Not yet. Not to mention you're on medical watch right now."

Deuce let out a cry of frustration, kicking at the dirt. He seemed to be kicking things a lot lately.

Ironhide sighed and started heading back for the base. His spark wasn't in it anymore. A few steps behind him Deuce followed, clearly irritated.

"Look," Ironhide began. "The second Ratchet gives you the all clear, and you can tolerate being around humans again, and that's more than just Will and Annabelle, then I'll drag you out here in a heartbeat. But until then, the gun stays offline."

"Not fair," Deuce muttered, then stilled.

Someone was driving up to the base.

"I thought Will had the day off," he said.

"He does," Ironhide replied. "But last I checked, Will doesn't own a scooter."

Deuce's optics widened.

* * *

Mikaela had barely had time to take off her helmet when a shadow blocked the sun from her. Bracing herself, she looked up, giving a small smile to the Autobot still standing some feet away.

"Hi, Ironhide."

"Mikaela," the topkick greeted her, not without relief. "We haven't seen you in a while."

The girl nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

There was movement behind the truck, and her eyes caught side of the red and white figure, optics staring at her. She rewarded him with a larger smile.

"Hey, Deuce. How are you feeling?"

Deuce didn't answer, but smiled back.

Looking between them, Ironhide sighed. "All right, I get it. Deuce, stay in range, and come inside when you're done or Ratchet will have me fighting Decepticons as a Skoda."

As the Autobot headed inside, Mikaela slipped her hands into her pockets and walked over.

"You grounded or something?"

Deuce shook his head. "Medical watch."

"What happened?"

Deuce wasn't really interested in bringing up the collapse, so just grinned.

"Stupid Ratchet being stupidly scared. It's no problem."

It was rather frightening how much Mikaela could look like Optimus when she raised an eyebrow, clearly buying it as much as the Prime had. "Uh huh."

When Deuce shrugged rather than answer, Mikaela sighed.

"Let's head over. I need to stretch my legs."

* * *

"How's Bumblebee?"

Deuce gave another halfhearted shrug. With neither wanting to go in and unable to go too far, both were walking around the base walls, Mikaela's hand brushing against the building.

"Okay. He's still too coddly though."

Mikaela chuckled. "That makes sense. Don't think you'll ever get rid of that."

"Why are you here?"

The girl stopped, realising that the minibot wasn't by her side anymore. He was a few feet behind, looking at her strangely.

"Why?"

Deuce's optics flicked away. "You stay away for months, don't even call. Then you come back like nothing happened?"

Mikaela had looked at him strangely, and her lip began to waver. For a moment Deuce feared she was about to cry, only to have her burst into laughter, hand quickly coming to her mouth and leaning against the wall. There were at least a dozen ways Deuce had suspected her to reply.

This hadn't been on that list.

"Uh…?"

"I-I'm sorry, D-Deuce" she snickered. "It's just…you really need to start talking to yourself."

Deuce frowned.

-Hax… -

-Yes? – A far too amused voice called back.

-You wouldn't happen to know what she's talking about would you? –

-Beep! Hax is unavailable at the moment; please leave a message after the be-

Deuce screeched in frustration, not even bothering to reply in his head.

"That's what you were doing yesterday? Why don't you just butt out!?"

-Temper temper. –

"Deuce."

He turned to see Mikaela staring at him.

"I'm glad he did."

As the minibot stared in something akin to shock, Mikaela felt a heaviness that had been with her the last few months begin to ebb, and walked back to him.

"Come on, I'm gonna do you a favour."

* * *

In preparation for the regular stream of humans wandering in and out of the base, the Autobots had set aside a recreation room for them. However, they'd left it to Team Lennox for furnishing, resulting in nothing more than two food and drink dispensers and a fooseball table. There was also a three-piece suite lining the wall, but it was an open secret it was only there because Epp's wife had wanted a new one.

It was here that Maggie could be found, kicking the drinks machine for its inability to tell the difference between coffee and cola, when Mikaela strolled in.

"Maggie Madsen?"

The analyst flung herself around at the sound of another female, taking in the fashionably dressed teen, hair groomed with an enviable smoothness. She was also irritatingly familiar.

Eventually, she reasoned, she was going to stop experiencing déjà vu at this base. "That's me."

The girl smiled and held out a hand. "I'm Mikaela."

Oh. Oh!

"Oh right" Maggie greeted, giving up on the beverage for now and shaking her hand. "I've heard a lot about you. I didn't think you still came."

A smile-with-a-story flashed across the girls face. "It was complicated. Anyway, I'm here to try to fix things."

Before Maggie could question the statement, Mikaela was looking over her shoulder.

"You can come in now."

For a moment there was nothing, and then Maggie could hear the thrumming of an engine. Moments later, a Ducati motorbike had slipped into the room, slowly and carefully.

"You going to come any closer?"

The Ducati didn't answer, and Mikaela sighed, turning to Maggie again and tossing her the helmet.

"You got some free time?"

* * *

"IRONHIDE!"

The topkick winced, the medics thundering footsteps following him down the hall.

"What have I done now?" he snapped back.

"Where is Deuce? He was with you last and now I can't find him. He's not even answering his comm.!"

Oh.

His optics shut in apprehension. "I left him outside."

"ALONE!"

"Not exact-"

"This is just typical! You know what he's like! Give him an inch and he'll take a mile!"

"I know that but-"

"No buts! How could you be so irrespons-"

"Ratchet!"

The yell cut off the hummer's tirade for only an instant, but Ironhide took it gratefully.

"I'm sorry, but Mikaela just showed up. I thought they could use some peace – I didn't think they'd run off."

"Mikaela's here?"

At the medic's surprised look, Ironhide relaxed, danger clearly over.

"Showed up outside not too long ago. Looked like she wanted to talk to Deuce."

Both their comm.'s buzzed, and Jazz's bemused voice came through.

"All bots to the communications room. There's something on the camera's that you've just **got** to see."

* * *

Jazz finished the page and turned his attention back to the screen. Bumblebee was by his side transfixed, a happy grin on his face.

On the screen, Deuce was in his motorcycle mode, driving through the targets of the firing range. Riding solo was a human, clearly Mikaela judging by the build, though she didn't seem to be the one in control.  
Then, when they turned at the edge of the range, the driving style changed completely, and the human was in charge of manoeuvring through the targets.

"Well that's a sight I never thought I'd see again."

Jazz sent a lazy salute towards the door. "Hey Optimus."

"You haven't seen the best part yet" Bumblebee added, still focused on the screen.

Curious, Optimus followed his gaze, only moving when Ratchet and Ironhide arrived.

Once at the start of the firing range again, another figure became clear, and Optimus blinked in surprise.

"Is that Maggie?"

Sure enough, the other woman was walking up to the Ducati, catching the helmet thrown to her. Hesitating for just a moment, Maggie swung a leg over and took off, Deuce in control.

And not throwing her off, or trying to get away.

"Slag it all, it's a trust exercise" Ratchet gasped, slapping a hand over his optics. "How could we have not thought about that?"

"Deuce has her life in his hands on the way down, while the rider takes control on the way back" Ironhide mused. "But at the same time, Deuce can take control whenever he wants. Clever."

"I don't think it would have worked if Mikaela hadn't been the one to come up with it" Bumblebee added. "He's never voluntarily been this close to Maggie before. She must have said or did something."

As the Ducati swung around, control was given to Maggie, who struggled at first, but quickly evened out.

Optimus chuckled, spirits lifting for the first time in a while. "Jazz?"

"Yes boss?"

"The US government gave us a yearly stipend for whatever we require yes?"

"That's what I was told."

"See if you can't get Mikaela a wage packet."

Jazz laughed. "Already on it."

* * *

_To be continued . . ._


	5. Arrival

Gah! At this rate the **third** movie will be out before I finish this thing. Least its still coming though.

Thanks again to Epona Harper, who is the only reason this is readable. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Arrival**

Kicking up her heels, Maggie relaxed her hold and let Deuce take control as they spun round and headed towards Bumblebee, Deuce's current guardian, and Mikaela. They'd been doing this for a couple of hours every day for the last week, and even Will's team, who were not as frequent visitors as Will himself, had noticed an immediate difference. True, Deuce still jumped when she walked into the room, but it didn't result in him bolting for the door. She was actually able to have a conversation with him with him replying in more than yes or no answers so long as Mikaela was with her. Clearly, the girl's judgement held great weight with him.

They skidded to a stop by Bumblebee's foot, and Maggie threw Mikaela the helmet.

"Well, my break's over. Jazz will be wondering what happened to me."

"If I know Jazz," Bumblebee replied, "he's audio deep in music files with one optic on the security cameras. The second you go inside, he shut them all down and pretend to have worked like a drone the whole time."

Bumblebee's comm. crackled.

"I heard that!"

Maggie started to head off, but turned her head and grinned.

"So, you three coming?"

She'd asked before, and expected the same shake of Deuces head that she'd gotten every other time. So it was hard to tell who was more surprised when Deuce nodded, and clambered onto Bumblebee's shoulder.

"Let's go."

Mikaela and Maggie shared a grin.

* * *

Jazz sighed at the group heading back on the cameras, and idly flicked off his music. Just because it was true didn't mean Bumblebee had to call him on it.

He was just about to com the group again when the screens roared into life, and flashing red lights took centre stage. Optics widening, the Pontiac quickly patched a line to Optimus.

"We've got planet fall!"

* * *

Mikaela was talking, but Maggie wasn't really paying too much attention, eyes on the small minibot perched on his older companion's shoulder, arms lying on the yellow head. He was smirking and talking non-stop, much to Bumblebee's amusement.

Deuce had definitely cheered up since Mikaela had arrived, but, in turn, Maggie had been starting to feel doubts about the entire situation.

Until the girl's arrival, she had assumed that the Autobots had been forbidden contact with civilians, that the non-military personnel involved had been under the same restraints as her. But Mikaela was here and, from her interactions, was once a fairly regular visitor.

In the deeper recesses of her memory, she remembered a boy at Hoover Dam. A teenager with brown hair and tongue as sarcastic as it was quick, who had defended Bumblebee with a headstrong ferocity. Who had inherited the name of the one who found Megatron almost a century ago?

Mikaela had been mentioned in passing before returning. Lennox and his team were permanently stationed here, Keller was their go-between, and Simmons had let his paranoia and anger lead him to doom. Even Glen, as minor as his role had been, had come up in conversation with Jazz on a few occasions.

They were all accounted for, so where was he?

Where was Sam Witwicky?

It was a question that would have to wait till later, as when they reached the base entrance, Bumblebee jumped back just in time to avoid Ironhide storming out, followed by Optimus, Jazz and Ratchet.

"Slag it all, he's two days early. Will isn't even here," Ironhide snapped.

"There's nothing we can do about it, Ironhide," Optimus sighed. "We'll just have to use a substitute."

Maggie and Mikaela exchanged looks, but the two Autobots with them immediately clicked.

"New guy's here?" Deuce asked.

Bumblebee's eyes went skyward. "He made good time. How'd he do that?"

"Clearly he's used to long distance travelling," Ratchet replied. "That or he's been damaged and is disregarding safety for speed."

"Unfortunately, the human government insisted that any new arrivals be observed by at least one human witness," Optimus continued. "Will was our first choice, but he's not here."

"And will never get here in time if those estimates are accurate," Jazz piped up.

Optimus smiled down at Maggie and Mikaela. "Are either of you willing to volunteer?"

Slowly, the two woman turned to each other, and a cheeky smile crept onto Maggie's face.

"Rock, paper, scissors you for it?"

* * *

Three rounds later, Mikaela was stepping into Ironhide's passenger seat, and Maggie was leaning against the entrance listening to the final act.

"Maggie knows how to handle the monitors well enough to get by, but Bumblebee will stay behind to keep an eye on Deuce."

That caught the youngling's attention. "What? I'm coming!"

Ratchet's optics narrowed, and he stared down at the figure still on Bumblebee's shoulder. "No, Deuce. You will stay here."

Jazz gave him a helpless grin. "Hey, we'll let you come next time when you're tip top again, kay little buddy?"

It didn't placate him, and the youngling jumped off Bumblebee's shoulder, arms crossed and kicking the dirt.

-This is so unfair! –

-Tell me about it! – Hax snapped. –If you're on medical watch, you'd think keeping you around Ratchet would be the smart thing. –

Ratchet shook his head at the minor temper tantrum and turned to Bumblebee. "Keep an eye on him, we don't want him sneaking out."

"Not a problem," Bumblebee replied, and the group transformed for the trip. As Optimus called for them to roll out, Jazz hesitated, driving up to Deuce.

"Don't feel too bad about it, little buddy," he soothed. "We'll be back in a few hours." Deuce sighed, and patted the Pontiacs bonnet.

"Good luck," he chirped, and then stilled as he felt Hax move, slipping from his mind to Jazz's processor. Before he could mention it, the Pontiac was gone, heading after the rest.

As they vanished down the path, Deuce felt Bumblebee sidle up behind him.

"Don't worry, Optimus will contact us when he arrives. Until then we have some free time."

Deuce brushed off his confusion and smirked.

"Lookout?"

"Funny. You know we can't leave the base."

"Monitors?"

Bumblebee's optics brightened. "Maggie is in there."

Deuce shrugged, and clambered back onto Bumblebee's shoulder. "So?"

Bumblebee's smile was almost palatable. "Whatever you want."

* * *

Less than half an hour later, Maggie was sitting cross-legged on the monitors, typing furiously into her laptop as formulas and equations flew across the alien screens. A respectful distance away, Bumblebee sat in the only chair, Deuce still on his shoulder, apparently amused by the faces the human was making.

"Yes…yes…no! Nononononono!"

And Maggie's fingers were off the keyboard and in her hair.

"Urgh! The simulations crashed again!"

"What's the problem?" Bumblebee asked, just as amused as his charge.

Maggie sighed, closing the laptop and placing it to the side, swinging her legs over the edge.

"I'm trying to set up a trial version of a anti-Decepticon firewall, but so far I can't even get it to boot up without crashing the whole system. It needs to move too fast."

"Your technology too primitive?" the camaro prodded, receiving a distracted nod in return.

"That's putting it bluntly. In another, oh, ten years we might have the processing power to handle it, but given the government, they'll probably insist 'its not cost effective' and stick a Norton sticker on the problem!"

It had been a bad joke, but Maggie took pride that it had made Deuce giggle all the same.

* * *

Meanwhile, 30 miles out, a strange contingent of cars was travelling along the back roads, until the giant Peterbuilt pulled off, swapping tarmac for dusty ground, heading into the desert.

'How much further, Jazz?'

'Two more miles, Optimus. Since the new guy was heading down in the day, we figured staying off road would be best.'

'Good idea,' Ironhide noted. 'We were lucky to avoid detection last time.'

Says the guy who landed in somebody's swimming pool, Jazz mused.

-You're one to talk. Didn't you land in a baseball field? –

Jazz's tires screeched, forcing Ratchet to swerve and kicking up the dust.

'Jazz!' the medic screeched. 'What the slag was that about?'

-Don't tell! – Hax begged.

'Uhh, sorry Ratch, temporary glitch, nothing to worry about.'

His comm. crackled, and Mikaela's voice came through. 'Jazz, are you sure?'

'Hey don't worry little lady, I'm just fine.'

This seemed to placate them, and the comm. fell silent.

-What the sla-, ah, what are you doing here? - Jazz hissed inwardly. -How, when? -

-Just before you left. Deuce didn't know what I was planning it. –

-Well you'd better go back before everyone **else** knows you were planning it. What part of 'medical watch' didn't you understand? –

- 'Deuce' is on medical watch- Hax chimed in. –Nobody said anything about me. –

Jazz groaned. Semantics. Hax couldn't get enough of them.

-You slip up just once, and you'd better be gone. –

-Deal. –

* * *

"You've definitely mellowed out," Bumblebee noted, keeping an eye on the small figure on his shoulder, and the woman glaring at her laptop. In reply, Deuce shrugged and leaned into the Camaro's neck.

"She's not so bad. Kinda like Mikaela."

"We're proud of you" Bumblebee continued. "Even if you have been digging in your heels about it."

Deuce perked up at that. "That mean training?"

"Once you're off medical watch, then we'll see."

The youngling sighed, and pulled his legs up higher. "So not fair."

* * *

"So how is he going to get an alt mode if he's arriving out here? I thought you needed to physically scan a car?"

"Ideally, yes" Ratchet replied, looking out over the rather dead, dusty land where the group was waiting. "But there are only so many times you can crash meteors into heavily populated areas without incident."

"Thankfully, the internet is a suitable replacement," Ironhide continued. "Scanning specifications and data isn't perfect, but it works on a short term basis."

"If he's smart, he'll pick something common and inconspicuous," Jazz added. "Course, that all depends on his intelligence."

-He's smart- Hax piped up. –He talks like Optimus, and Ratchet when he's not angry-

Jazz stifled a smirk. –Hey now, keep quiet, last thing I need is for someone to figure out I'm not standing alone here. –

Throughout the continuing conversation, Optimus said nothing, optics staring up at the clear sky. Mikaela began to wonder if he even remembered they were here, when his voice rang clear.

"He's here."

* * *

"Hey…is that what I think it is?"

Both 'bots looked down to see Maggie had returned to her laptop, but was now focused on one of the monitor screens, a red light flashing in the corner. Learning over, she started pressing a sequence of buttons, bringing up the desired object. The map of space which tracked Cybertronian signals. One was very strong, though beginning to ebb. Their new arrival making his appearance no doubt, but further off…

"Two more beacons?" Deuce squeaked.

"Wait forever for one and then three come along at once" Maggie quipped. "Should we get Deuce to contact them?"

"Hax does it, not me," Deuce corrected. "And he's not here right now."

He winced as the yellow Camaro tensed underneath him, angry optics on him.

"What?"

"Um…oops?"

Bumblebee's face warned him that they would be talking about this later, before he turned back to the screen. Deuce sighed, and then tensed himself.

He felt weird again.

Oblivious, Bumblebee was talking to Maggie. "Regardless, we shouldn't. No contact at all."

"Why not?"

The Camaro pointed at the screen. "Because these aren't Autobot signals. Those are Decepticon reinforcements."

Suddenly, the hand on Bumblebee's shoulder slipped, and Deuce crashed in Bumblebee's lap, much to the Camaro's initial amusement.

"It's not that shocking, Deuce. We knew they'd arrive eventually."

Deuce didn't move, and Bumblebee's smile vanished.

"Deuce?"

* * *

Despite the announcement, it was several minutes before Mikaela could make out the new arrival, a tiny speck in the air. Before long, the speck was a blob, and the blob a ball.

By the time she was making out the metal frame beneath whatever hadn't been burned off coming into atmosphere, she had to cover her ears from the screaming noise.

It smashed a good few hundred feet away, and the girl grabbed the nearest leg (Jazz) for balance. When the ground settled, they made their way over, listening to the whirring and clicking as the protoform reshaped. They stopped when a hand appeared at the edge of the crater, and the Autobot pulled himself out.

"Optimus Prime," he greeted. "It's an honour."

"Likewise," Optimus replied. "Welcome to Earth."

He was big, Mikaela noted. Almost as large as Ratchet, but with a build closer to that of Ironhide. On his head was a crest that reminded her of a Mohawk, going down the centre of his skull, and along the ridges above his optics.

"I received your last transmission a few hours ago," he continued. "As requested I found a suitable form that should suffice. It's called the 2000 Range Rover Rhino."

While he spoke, Mikaela watched in fascination as the Autobots outer shell clicked and warped, reshaping and forcing his frame down. She'd never seen the process with her own eyes before – Bumblebee had vanished during his 'makeover', and Deuce had done it too fast.

When he was done, a land rover stood among the group, before almost immediately choosing to transform back.

"I must say this planet is very fascinating," he continued. "I've been to organic planets before, but never one with so much diversity."

"It does have its surprises," Optimus agreed. "Allow me to introduce you. This is my second lieutenant, Jazz."

The Pontiac gave a casual salute. "What's cracking?"

-Huh, he looks tougher than I pictured he'd be – Hax mused.

-You should know not to judge by appearances by now Hax- Jazz chuckled.

"My weapons specialist, Ironhide."

"We've met," the Autobot replied, and his arms whirred into life. A few moments later, a pair of large chain guns had formed, held down to assure they were no threat, and Ironhide slapped a hand over his optics and laughed.

"Now I remember you! Just before the war really broke out, that exploration mission the council was so excited about. You needed a weapons upgrade. How have they handled?"

The Autobot smiled. "I wouldn't be alive without them."

"So you are a scientist then?" Ratchet asked. "Your name is familiar."

"A scientist once," he amended. "Life has insisted on me becoming more flexible…a jack of all trades as this planet might say."

"And this is my medical officer Ratchet" Optimus finished, before nodding for Mikaela to come forward. The girl did, and the Autobot's optics landed on Mikaela, blinking in unhidden curiosity.

"And this must be the dominant species of this planet, a 'human?'"

"Yes," Optimus answered. "This is Mikaela Banes, a trusted friend and ally."

Mikaela wondered if she should do or say something to say 'hi', when the Autobot knelt down in front of her.

"Hello, Mikaela Banes."

She smiled.

"'Mikaela' is fine."

Suddenly, Ratchet's comm. activated, and the medic tensed.

"He what!"

Everyone turned to the hummer. "Ratchet, report," Optimus ordered.

"We have to get back to the base, Optimus," the medic replied. "Deuce just collapsed again."

A little distance away, Jazz tensed as what could only be described as a shudder passed through his mind.

-Oh no… -

As the Autobots transformed, the connection slipped away, Hax slipping back to Hax or the base's computer, whatever would take him first, leaving the Pontiac with nothing but his fears in his processor.

The others however, were oblivious, and as Optimus and Ratchet pulled out, Mikaela ran towards Ironhide, only to have the newest arrival pull up.

"I'm not quite sure what's happening," he started, "but perhaps while Ironhide explains, you could tell me more? It's been too long since I've been allowed to study another planet."

Ironhide pulled away, clearly seeing no problem, and Mikaela gingerly opened the door to the passenger seat. The land rover had just set off, when Mikaela realised something.

"Wait, I still don't know what to call you."

The Autobot laughed. "Oops. It slipped my mind, my apologies.

You can call me Rhinox."

* * *

_To be continued…_


	6. Analysis

__

Again, much thanks to Epona Harper, who gets all the credit for taking my Rhinox's rather garbed explanation and turning it into something legible.

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Analysis**

When Bumblebee had realised what had happened, he'd gathered Deuce up in his arms, and headed for the med bay. Maggie made to follow, only to be stopped by a voice echoing down the corridor.

"Stay at the control panel!"

As the large frame vanished, she turned back to the screens, but closed her laptop once again – she wasn't going to be able to work.

So more Decepticons were on their way. Judging from the speed their new guy had managed, they were about a month out. If they were lucky, maybe more Autobots would show up on the scanners before then. Perhaps if they could boost the signal…but then, no doubt Optimus and the others had already tried that.

* * *

Bumblebee's head looked up as he heard heels walking towards him, and Maggie hurried in.

"Hax is in the computer."

Bumblebee sighed. "I'll go get him. Maybe he can help."

"You sure?"

"Deuce won't be able to take him back through your phone like this – best if it's mech to mech."

He headed for the door. "Besides, I need to talk to him."

* * *

"So, Deuce is the youngling that contacted me?"

Mikaela was gripping her seatbelt with such intensity that she didn't hear the question at first – news of Deuce's collapse had spurred the Autobots in ignoring speed laws.

"Mikaela?"

'_You still with us, girl?'_

At Ironhide's question, Mikaela snapped out of it, and tried to clear her thoughts.

"Sorry, what?"

Rhinox chuckled. "Deuce. Is he the youngling I spoke to?"

The girl thought back, and, unsure as to how Rhinox would see it, shook her head. "Not exactly. You probably spoke to Hax."

The interior jerked in surprise. "There are two younglings?"

'_Not exactly,'_ Ratchet butted in – clearly all the Autobots were listening in on this conversation. _'It's difficult to explain.'_

Still, Mikaela did her best. "Okay…first there was Deuce, but then he had an…" she struggled for the best term. "…Accident, and his spark split a little. So now he has this program, 'Hax', in his head."

Rhinox didn't reply, clearly mulling this over.

"The being I talked to was no mere program."

'_And technically, he's not,'_ Ratchet admitted. _'We've just gotten used to describing him as such.'_

'_We can probably explain this better back at the base,'_ Jazz interrupted_. 'Sides, it's too complicated to do en route.'_

There was a mutual agreement, and the convoy sped up.

"So what about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Ironhide and Ratchet seem to know you, but I don't really get why a scientist would need guns like that."

"There **is** a war going on."

"And yet Ratchet, who's one of Optimus' elite, only has one gun and those saws," Mikaela argued. "And the saws are medical tools."

"Point taken," Rhinox replied. "Perhaps they are somewhat extreme, but I wanted to be prepared. The rest of the team just wasn't built for heavy artillery. At the beginning of the war, just before it blew up so spectacularly, a small team was dispatched to find a peaceful resolution to the arguments. We were all scientists or explorers, those with talents that would be useful on a mission like ours."

"What was the mission?" Mikaela asked.

Rhinox fell silent for a moment, carefully framing his words before continuing.

"To discover the origin of the Allspark."

"The ultimate origin of our conflict was a fundamental difference in worldviews. Megatron wished to utilize the power of the Allspark to establish Cybertronian rule over the galaxy. He believed that it had brought life to Cybertron for the purpose of creating an army that would bring order to the universe by whatever means necessary. Optimus opposed this, espousing the idea that all sentient beings had the right to choose their own way. According to his view, the creation of sentient life – free, sentient life – in and of itself was the purpose of the Cube. If it had not intended us to choose our own way, it would have created drones. Therefore, why should we deny to other races that which had been given us? The argument eventually led to our own proposal. We would seek out the origins of the Allspark and attempt to discover who or what created it and what was their fate. Was it sent to Cybertron on purpose or was it a cosmic accident? If it was sent out with purpose, was that purpose one that we should follow or reject? The two philosophies that were tearing our world apart were, to be perfectly honest, founded on assumptions that could not be proven either way. Having some hard facts might have made a difference. "

"Sounds like a lot was riding on this," Mikaela mused.

"Finding our origins could have unlocked the secret of life for us," Rhinox admitted. "We wanted to learn our history, and perhaps in doing so, find a way out of the chaos we had created. Sadly it was all for naught – the longer we searched, the worse the war became. Decepticon raiding parties were a constant, until we lost contact with Cybertron altogether, and our team was forced to separate."

"What happened to them?"

Rhinox's voice was tinged with regret. "I don't know. By the time I lost the Decepticons chasing me, they were gone. And I've seen none of them since. Afterwards, all I could do was keep chasing down the clues we had found, hoping they would do the same. I thought I'd finally achieved the impossible when I found traces of the Allspark's energy, only to find Prime's message. Before then, I hadn't even known Cybertron was dead."

'_Primus, that's rough,'_ Jazz said. _'Can't have been easy to accept.'_

"No," Rhinox replied. "It wasn't."

* * *

Bumblebee stormed into the control room, not bothering with the controls as he accessed the screens with his processor. In moments, the download was in progress and Bumblebee felt the presence of a guilty and somewhat scared being in his mind.

-Hi, Bee-

-What. Were. You. Thinking!? –

Something twinged, a virtual flinch. –I thought I'd be back before anyone knew! I just wanted to meet Rhinox-

-Rhinox? –

-New guy. Big. Scientist-slash-explorer-slash-very big guns- Hax explained. –I didn't think it would cause any problems! –

Something began to nag at Bee's processor. –Hax, were you with Deuce when he collapsed the first time? –

-No,- Hax admitted. –I got back just as he started to wake up.-

Bumblebee held his head in his hands. Hax's tendency to be ignored had made them miss something vital.

-Then perhaps your 'trips' are what's causing this.-

-What! – Hax shrieked. –No way! I've left him way longer than this before, and he's been fine.-

-Maybe,- Bumblebee amended. –But there's only one way to find out.-

As he spoke, the Camaro headed back towards the med bay, and Maggie looked up from Deuce when he entered.

"Any change?"

The woman shook her head. "Still out like a light."

Bumblebee nodded, and his hand curled around Deuce's far smaller limb.

-Okay Hax, try going back,- he urged.

And so he did.

* * *

Hax groaned as the images began to flash.

-Oh great, not this again! -

_A sunset on a cliff…_

Mikaela smiling over him, yellow chrome underneath…

_A crowd of humans staring, snickering…_

_Laughing as he opened a box to find a furious bundle of fluff…_

_And running. Always running…_

With a final flash, they were gone, leaving Hax in companionable darkness.

- …Hax? –

Dread filled Hax's spark. –Deuce, did you just wake up? –

Deuce groaned. –I think so. What happened? –

- …I screwed up. And I've got a very angry and worried Camaro waiting on the other side-

* * *

'Autobots' Bumblebee commed, relief in his voice. 'Deuce is awake.'

The convoy immediately began to slow, the urgency passed.

'Well thank Primus for that,' Ratchet stated. 'This spell was shorter, I wonder if that's significant.'

'I think it was to do with Hax,' Bumblebee replied. 'Apparently, he slipped off to meet Rhinox with one of you. The minute he returned, Deuce woke up.'

Ratchet groaned. "And he was away the first time too. Slag, how did we not think about that?"

Beside him, Jazz cursed inwardly. He should have forced Hax back the second he found him. What a mess.

* * *

For the medic and the Younglings, it was not a pleasant afternoon. Despite protests, Ratchet had insisted on being alone with Deuce first, and now the youngling was wincing while Ratchet practiced his long-mastered art of yelling-while-examining.

"And when your sidekick decides to go sightseeing, tell us immediately! And Hax! Do you try to make life difficult for yourself? Or does it just come naturally?"

Deuce curled in on himself, directing his ire inwards, much to Hax's annoyance.

-Hey! It's not my fault he has to yell at you to yell at me! –

"From now on, Deuce doesn't leave the med bay," Ratchet ordered. "And Hax stays put. You don't leave him long enough to check your email on the base computer! Understood?"

"Until when?" Deuce whimpered.

"Until I say otherwise!"

The bike clearly wanted to protest, but one look at Ratchet's face, and he fell in submission. He'd really worried the medic.

Ratchet leaned on the berth and sighed. Though they didn't need to breathe, the action seemed to work wonders on humans trying to reign in their tempers.

"So…do you know what's wrong?" asked Deuce.

Before Ratchet could reply, Optimus hailed his comm.

"Ratchet, are you done? We need to discuss this. Can you come to the control room?"

The medic winced, and looked over at Deuce.

"You going to behave yourself for once?"

Deuce nodded.

"Good. I'll be back soon with Jazz and Bumblebee. No doubt the two are making grooves in the floor by now."

It wasn't much, but at least he could see the youngling smile before he left.

* * *

While waiting for Ratchet to finish, Rhinox had been given a briefing on Deuce's origins. Unsurprisingly, the mech had been more than slightly sceptical, so he'd been given access to Ratchet's files on the conversion, as well as the files on the birth of Hax. He hadn't said a word since, merely going over the data again and again.

Jazz had been leaning against the console, watching him.

"Trust me, it doesn't get any less weird no matter how many times you go over it. Take it from someone who's tried."

Rhinox's optics glanced over for a moment.

"But you are not a scientist, and as such there are facets to this you possibly won't grasp completely. I find it fascinating."

He received a pair of disbelieving optics in return, and chuckled.

"It is. Back when Cybertron was still in its full glory, one of the more interesting debates was on the possibility of sentience in organic lifeforms. Not only has Deuce proven this positive on a number of levels, Hax has become the only Cybertronian to be created through means other than the Allspark. There are scientists who would claw out their optics just for a day with them."

"They aren't test subjects."

Rhinox glanced over to the yellow 'bot who had started to glare at him.

"That's not my intention," he tried to soothe. "I'm just saying that the circumstances allow for some fascinating discussion."

It didn't really seem to placate Bumblebee, but before he could reply, Ratchet walked in, immediately becoming everyone's focus.

"It's Hax alright."

The Autobots tensed, but it was Optimus who spoke first.

"How?"

Ratchet shook his head. "Don't ask me how, but he's gotten wired into the vital areas of Deuce's processor, Deuce literally can't function without him anymore. Whenever Hax leaves, Deuce's processor jams up and goes into a delayed shutdown. That's what's causing these blackouts."

Ironhide growled, scratching at his face plates. "Just one more problem we can't deal with. How the slag did Hax and Deuce pull this off?"

"I don't even want to fathom a guess," Ratchet replied. "But given how quickly Deuce fell the second time, he's becoming more and more reliant on Hax. We can't let him out anymore, or we could end up causing Deuce permanent damage."

Optimus nodded. As much as he hated the idea of having to restrict Hax to Deuce's processor permanently, it was necessary for both. "Agreed."

"Actually, that could be the very last thing you want to do."

Rhinox had stood up, looking Ratchet optic to optic. "This is only a theory, but if my hypothesis is correct, we need to separate the two of them. As soon as possible."

"How come? This…glitch going to be dangerous?" Jazz asked.

Rhinox seemed to struggle with his next words. "Not dangerous so much as damaging. It seems fairly obvious from the files that Hax is dependant on Deuce for his continued existence, while Deuce has survived without Hax for most of his life. Why would that suddenly change?"

Ratchet blinked. "You don't think it changed at all. That this was meant to happen?"

Rhinox nodded. "The answer must lie with when Hax was first created. Your theory was that the lookout program would have been absorbed by Deuce over a period of time, but Deuce tried to purge the file, rejecting the whole idea. Yet the program still exists, as a sentient mind, and is now taking more and more control away from Deuce."

It took a moment, but all but Ironhide tensed as realisation hit them.

"Oh no…" Ratchet groaned.

"This is just a theory right?" Bumblebee piped up, desperation in his optics. "You could be wrong."

"What? What am I missing?" Ironhide snapped, only to be stilled by Optimus's reply.

"Hax is absorbing Deuce the same way Deuce was absorbing the lookout program."

_To be continued . . ._


	7. Acceptance

**Chapter 7 - Acceptance**

-Don't even think it, Deuce. –

Deuce sighed, eyeing the door. It had only been a few minutes since Ratchet had left the youngling alone, and he'd started to eye the door, knowing the medic had left it unlocked.

–Oh come on! You're just as annoyed as I am. –

-We're in enough trouble already, – Hax whined.

Deuce jumped off the berth and headed for the exit.

-Please, how much more **can** they punish us? And I am **tired** of being the last to know what's happening to me. They'll spend the next million vorns tiptoeing around me and not telling me anything. I have a right to know. WE have a right to know. -

Hax groaned. -Its not like I can stop you. –

-That's the spirit. –

* * *

The silence of the control room was almost palpable, only broken by the sound of repetitive thumping. Bumblebee had leaned against the wall, hitting his head on it.

"Once, just **once**, I'd like us to catch a break."

He crashed his arm into the wall in frustration, causing the others to flinch.

"Ratchet, your thoughts?" Optimus asked.

"I hate to say it, but Rhinox's theory is sound," he replied. "I'd have to perform a few more tests, but if I know what I'm looking for, I could prove it."

Jazz hated to ask, but…

"And if it is true?"

The medic sighed. "Then we have a serious problem. We could lose both of them."

The Pontiac tensed. "How? I thought the Lookout problem wasn't causing any actual problems."

"Yes, but the Lookout program wasn't sentient," Ratchet snapped back. "Right now two minds are effectively becoming one. Assuming the two don't destroy each other in the merge, what we'll end up with wont be either of them."

Ironhide frowned. "So what do we do? Separate them?"

Ratchet shook his head. "It's impossible."

"Don't want to hear that!" Ironhide snapped.

"Technically its only implausible," Rhinox admitted. "But you're asking your medic to pioneer an unheard of form of spark surgery, with little to no medical support, in a building that is completely unsuitable for delicate work."

"Not to mention I haven't performed spark surgery since the early days of the war," Ratchet muttered. "Creating simulations to test possibilities, constructing a clean room, training up for the procedure…even in the best medical facilities on Cybertron this would take months…years to prepare."

"They don't have that long," Rhinox butted in. "Hax is becoming the dominant base mind. At this rate Deuce could only have 6 earth months before his psyche is gone completely. Hax, or whatever he's become, will take over."

Optimus rubbed the bridge of his nose, starting to agree wholeheartedly with Bumblebee's earlier statement.

Suddenly, there was a crash from outside, and the Autobots looked at each other.

Bumblebee opened the door, only to jerk back in shock. Deuce was on the ground, having tripped over his own feet, and was staring up at the mechs in horror. Before anyone could say anything, the motorbike had transformed and sped off, leaving nothing but tire tracks.

"Deuce!"

Seconds later, a yellow Camaro was chasing after him, leaving the others in his dust. They weren't entirely sure who spoke first, but agreed whole-heartedly with the statement.

"Slag."

* * *

-Deu…-

-Shut up! – Deuce shrieked, accelerated another ten miles per hour. –Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! –

Dimly, through his red haze, he could hear Bumblebee chasing him, quickly closing the gap between them. He wouldn't have time to vanish into his hideaway.

Instead, he made a sharp turn for the entrance, shooting out only to turn again, heading deeper into the desert, heading for a rock formation. When he reached it, the Ducati jumped, shifting into its bipedal form, and screamed, slamming his hands down on the rocks.

Behind him, Bumblebee slowed, coasting to a halt before transforming, watching the youngling take out his frustrations the only way available to him.

Deuce slammed his hands down again, punching the rocks to dust, his vocal processor never ceasing in his screeches. Inwardly however, he was slightly more coherent.

-WHY? Whywhywhywhywhy?! –

Hax wasn't answering, hovering in the back of his mind, guilt and sadness sinking through to his host. With one final punch, Deuce dropped to his knees, curling into a ball.

Taking in the trembling form, Bumblebee took his chance, and stepped towards him.

"Deuce, I'm sorry you heard that."

Slowly, the youngling's head lifted up, optics staring into Bumblebee's own, betraying his fear.

"I don't want to disappear, Bumblebee," he whimpered. "I don't want to be like Sam."

Bumblebee flinched, but knelt down by his side.

"You won't," he soothed. "If Rhinox is right, and this is happening to you, we **will** fix it, I promise."

"But what if you don't? What if you can't?"

"That. Won't. Happen."

"But-"

"Deuce," Bumblebee replied as firm as he could. "You will be okay. You **and** Hax will be okay. I don't care what we have to do, you will never have to worry about this."

Deuce blinked, shivering as he stared up at the yellow 'bot. For a moment, Bumblebee thought he hadn't gotten through to him, that he would run off again, only for Deuce to wail and jump up, clamping himself to Bumblebee's neck in a vice grip.

Cybertronians couldn't cry, but the whimpering coming from the youngling's vocaliser was just as painful. Slowly, Bumblebee's hands came up to support the smaller body, and slowly made his way back to the base.

'_I've got him,'_ he commed to the group. _'Do you want him back in the medbay?'_

'_Yes'_ Ratchet replied. _'We need to confirm Rhinox is right. If he is, we can work on exactly how and what we're going to do about it.'_

'_I'll wait with him,' _Bumblebee commed back. _'He really shouldn't be left alone right now.'_

'_Understood,'_ Optimus answered. _'But keep your comm. open. The matter of the Decepticons still needs to be discussed.'_

'_Yes, Prime.'_

* * *

The briefing was strained, Rhinox and Ratchet leaving to see Deuce, Ratchet eager to get back to Deuce, only to inevitably confirm Rhinox's hypothesis an hour later. Their two younglings were ticking mental time bombs.

But there was also the issue of those two beacons, heading straight for them.

It would be weeks, close to two months before the two actually made it to earth, but it was two they would have to dedicate to saving Deuce rather than hunting Starscream. It couldn't have come at a worse time.

If Starscream met up with loyal reinforcements, that would bring his number up to at least four. They had six not counting Deuce, but, if it was the seeker's trine, the extra numbers wouldn't add up to much. A trine could be twice as deadly as the singular bots on their own.

And Starscream would come to the base. It was an inevitable fact. And then there was the matter of Deuce, who still refused to talk about his 'rescue', or the sigil that had been branded on him for such a short time. Deuce could not be left defenceless with such a threat waiting in the wings.

His training had to start. Ratchet was furious, angry at the notion, storming out when it was clear their minds wouldn't change. As far as he was concerned, Deuce was still his patient, and no mech in his condition should be expected to learn how to fight. Optimus, hoping for a peaceful resolution, took him to his office to try and convince the medic otherwise.

"No."

"Ratchet..."

"NO. This shouldn't even be up for discussion! I agreed permit training once he was psychologically better and out of medical leave. He is neither!"

Optimus sighed. He'd known Ratchet had been against training ever since Ironhide had tentatively brought it up a few weeks ago – it had taken days to convince him of the necessity. But now that Ratchet had confirmed Rhinox's hypothesis, they knew Deuce's condition wasn't exactly physical, and the youngling was in danger if left alone.

"What choice do we have, Ratchet? Starscream has reinforcements arriving, and he knows where our base is, while we have barely been able to track him. Once his numbers are up, he is going to attack, and Deuce will be a defenceless target.

"You conceded when it was Bumble-"

"Bumblebee was a completely different situation! He was older than Deuce, not to mention he was within a secure base for a vorn before we even discussed it. And he wasn't having to prepare for probably the most dangerous operation ever performed in our history!"

"I'm aware of this, but, Ratchet, he needs something to focus on. Finding out about his condition has broken him, his confidence is gone. Training could give him back what he lost, as well as ensuring his safety."

Optimus had commanded thousands in his life, his voice a beacon of trust. One that even the harshest mechs stopped to consider, to acknowledge a different view. But given the tenseness of the medic's frame, Ratchet had heard it one too many times.

"I won't let you do it. I don't care if I have to chain him to my side – I won't let Ironhide teach him how to use those weaons. Not yet."

Optimus stared at his old friend, before wilting.

"You really won't stand down?"

"This war has made me throw away a thousand moral principles Optimus. I wont add another to the pile. Deuce cannot be trained until the spark surgery has been performed."

"There's no reasoning with him when he gets like this, Prime. You of all mechs should know this."

Both Autobots jerked up, only to catch the smirking gaze of Ironhide, leaning against the doorframe arms folded in amusement.

"How long have you been there?" Optimus asked, smiling to match despite himself.

The weapons specialist pushed off the wall and joined the two. "Long enough. What say we come to a…compromise of sorts?"

Ratchets optics narrowed. "What do you have in mind."

Ironhide shrugged. "I'll agree to hold off on weapons training if you agree to let me work on his defence. Evasion, camouflage, scouting…kids already got most of those skills from whenever he wanted to 'play' with us. Given the strength of the weaponry he's got, he needs it more. Just let me make sure he knows how to keep himself from getting hit when the 'cons show up."

Some, but not all of the intensity left the medic's face, and Ironhide went in for the kill.

"We'll teach him how to run, how to hide. Your morals can't argue with that."

And he was right, the slagger. "Only evasive manoeuvres?"

"Kid won't have to activate his gun once."

Ratchet turned to Optimus, and their Prime nodded.

"I can't argue with that."

The medic sighed, and held out his hand.

"Then I guess I can't either. Primus help us all."

_To be continued…_


	8. Adapting

**Chapter 8 - Adapting**

Maggie tried to assure herself that showing up at the crack of dawn only proved she was worried. True, none of the Autobots had called her after she and Will had left, and she didn't want to be in the way…but she was assigned to the base, it wouldn't hurt to show up a few hours early. Right?

As she pulled into the road, her nerves soothed when she spotted a blue Vespa heading in the same direction. Clearly she wasn't the only one worried.

She kept pace with the scooter, and was oddly surprised to find an area outside the base filled with cars, most belonging to Will' team, but a few military trucks with them. She greeted the girl once they were both parked outside.

"Hey, Mikaela, you hear anything?"

Mikaela shook her head. "Bumblebee sent me a message last night saying they had a breakthrough, but he didn't explain. I don't know if I should be relieved or worried."

Maggie sighed, scanning her hand on the palm reader. "Know the feeling. Sarah called me earlier saying Will was called out in the dead of night, but she didn't know why."

"Must be a big breakthrough though" Mikaela replied, nodding at the cars and trucks littered outside before walking in. "They never have this many people over at the same-"

"Heads up!"

Long used to such a phrase in these walls, both women ducked, narrowly missing the steel girder on Epp's shoulder.

"Careful, ladies," he chuckled. "Big construction project going on right now."

"Look where you're going, Epps," Will warned from behind him, the other end on his shoulder.

"Oh, come on! We've been at this hours, I'm allowed to be a little under the weather."

The two walked out, dumping the girder on the ground and heading back. Mikaela and Maggie quickly followed.

"What's going on?" Maggie asked.

"Honestly?" Will replied. "No idea. Optimus calls Keller in the early hours with a shopping list long as my…well…his arm. And since nobody without clearance is allowed to know about this place, we got roped into being the delivery men."

"Although, whatever they're building must be pretty important. I haven't seen Ratchet this fired up since he first moved in. The new guy is having to bear the brunt of it, poor mech."

Speaking of which…

"No, no, no, no, no! We'll need another several meters or we'll constantly be tripping over each other!"

"I am not trying to undermine your experience," came the rather calmer (though with more than an edge of irritation), reply. "But I have checked the calculations five times – this is a more than adequate for our purposes."

"Adequate isn't going to cut it. This is the only part that we know will work! It needs to be perfect."

Maggie gave a few harsh slams on the metal walls, echoing the sound to catch their attention. Both straightened when they recognised the two.

"Maggie? Mikaela? What are you doing here?"

Mikaela gave a nervous smile. "Did we come at a bad time? We were worried."

Ratchet seemed to still for a few moments, then shook it off. "No…no, we're just busy. We meant to call the two of you later, but since you're already here…"

"How is he?" Mikaela interrupted, and Ratchet winced.

"It's complicated. Make yourselves comfortable and let me explain. I have a request for both of you."

* * *

"Just be careful with him."

"I'll be as careful as I was with you."

"…For some reason that doesn't make me feel better."

Deuce groaned, trying to pull from the iron grip Bumblebee had on his shoulder. "Come on, Bee! Ratchet and Optimus said yes and everything!"

Ironhide laughed. "Least you know order of importance. Let's go kid; you've got a lot to learn and not a lot of time to learn it. Cut the leash, Bumblebee."

The Camaro gave one last whine, and loosened his grip, Deuce bolting to Ironhide's side with surprising speed. Judging from the grin on his face, this little revelation was enough to push anything else out of his mind – Ironhide managed to bite back the snicker as the mirror ears twitched intently.

"Don't too excited kid," he warned, heading for the door. "You're not gonna be celebrating soon."

"Don't care! Train, train, train!"

The Topkick laughed. "Whatever you say."

* * *

It was only after Ratchet had finished speaking that Maggie realised her mouth was open. She swallowed, and tried to go over what the medic had just asked them. "I'm sorry, you want us to what?"

Ratchet's gaze was unwavering. "Deuce's operation will be complicated. We'll need all the hands we can get. I've already talked to Bumblebee about giving him the same training."

Mikaela was already shaking her head. "You can't be serious, I can't even win a game of Operation, never mind something like this."

"You wouldn't be expected to do anything crucial," Rhinox butted in. "Just keep an eye on the usual regulators so Ratchet can concentrate fully on separating their sparks. It's not risky work, just difficult to follow at first."

"Why us?" Mikaela asked again. "Why can't you train the others, or Will's team?"

"Because Optimus is too large for such delicate work, Ironhide doesn't have the dexterity after fitting those cannons, and Jazz just doesn't have the hands for surgery," Ratchet replied. "Bumblebee is the only one that can actually be useful in such a short time. As for you – Maggie Madsen has a history with fine electronics, while you have already had some experience with Cybertronian circuitry."

"Will I even have time to be trained?" Maggie added. "Technically I'm only contracted to be here while I keep working on the anti-Decepticon firewall."

"So Optimus Prime has told me," Rhinox replied, walking over. "Unfortunately, due to the current situation, most of the excess systems are being taken offline to make space for simulations and programs for the procedure, so there is little you can work with in that respect."

"Meaning you will only get a few hours with Jazz each day before the systems shut down and we start up," Ratchet finished. "So free time wont be an issue. Will you help?"

They both wanted to ask for time. Time to think about it, time to worry about what would happen if they screwed up, time to have exactly what they had to do explained.

But when both women caught each other's eye, the decision was already made.

"When do you need us?"

* * *

One month later…

Ratchet was tenser than he'd ever been, hands moving minutely slow. On his opposite side, Rhinox kept the small body stable, keeping the systems online while the spark was raised, vulnerable to outside sources. Bumblebee was by his side, taking orders whenever something blipped, while Mikaela and Maggie manned the monitors.

They were halfway through, the core beginning to separate, when suddenly, his tool nicked the core, and the monitors started to flash red.

"His temperature's rising!" Mikaela yelled.

"The spark can't take the separation," Rhinox warned. "It's going to destabilise!"

Frantic, Ratchet tried to seal the tiny shard, but it was too late. The smaller spark shattered, and the larger began fluttering into spark collapse.

The tool dropped from his hand, and he heard the noise he had come to dread.

"**SIMULATION FAILED. END PROGRAM."**

Ratchet yanked the simulation visor off with roar, slamming it into the table. By the monitors, Maggie and Mikaela were taking their own customised visors off with more care, while Rhinox and Bumblebee watched Ratchet in sympathy.

"We have made improvements," Rhinox insisted.

"Not fast enough!" Ratchet snapped. "At this rate we wont actually complete a full simulation before the end of the year."

He sighed, and nodded at the two humans and scout. "We've been at this hours. Take a break, go see Jazz or see how Deuce is doing."

Both woman nodded, and headed out – Mikaela rubbing her temples while Maggie stretched. Bumblebee looked like he wanted to stay, but a glare from Ratchet had him leaving.

"We need to change the method," Rhinox said, after the three left. "We should go back to customising the energon sealer."

Ratchet shook his head. "We don't have time."

"We had far better results with that than we're having with the scalpel," Rhinox countered. "We haven't had a single simulation where Hax hasn't collapsed since we swapped."

"But he only has about 5% chance with that method anyway," Ratchet argued. "We just can't get him to stabilise – he's never existed without another to leech from."

"That's another issue – for now, just let us at least consider it again."

* * *

Crouch.

Stay still.

Scans constant.

Do not move until the right moment.

Deuce repeated the mantra in his head while the hovering orb's light scanned over the crumbled wall he was hiding behind. Ironhide had shown a surprising mechanical knack when it came to training – creating these little balls programmed only to hunt him down.

When the light vanished, and the little ball's 'bipbipbip!' started to fade, his legs burst upwards, heading for the next shelter…

Only to jerk back as something hit his right shoulder. He stared at the little red paint spot, and groaned, while Hax started screaming expletives in his head, almost drowning out the laughter behind him.

"You're getting better, kid. Almost made it to the halfway point this time."

Deuce slumped to the ground, leaning against the bricks while the scanning orbs shut down. Ironhide had put together this obstacle course two weeks into his tutelage – and he was beginning to loathe it with his very spark.

-Forget the course- Hax hissed. –Your drill instructor is a sadist! –

Deuce decided not to pass on the comment, and just glared up at said instructor, whose optic ridges had been raised in amusement.

"You're still acting too quickly. You focus so much on whatever is in your way you forget to watch your back. Its always when you're in the home straight that you drop your guard."

He activated the drones again, and helped pick the youngling up. "Let's go again."

"Urgh."

* * *

Another month later…

-Duck and cover! Duck and cover! –

Deuce shrieked and dived to the ground, just as the missile hit the mock building only a few metres from him.

-You know- Hax squeaked. –I don't think this is what Ratchet agreed to! –

-Oh come on, coward – Deuce giggled, though not without a slight tremor. –This is awesome, and Ratchets too distracted to notice. –

-And why do you think that is? – Hax snapped, just as Deuce snapped his head back down again.

The voice in his head had a point. In the last two weeks the two medic-stroke-scientists had apparently made an impressive breakthrough. They'd been holed up in the med bay for days, not even letting in their in-training nurses up until yesterday.

And with Ratchet not keeping an eagle eye on Deuce's progress, Ironhide had been a little more creative with his training. Deuce's lessons had started to stick, and he was making it through the maze like a pro. So now it was taken up a level, with genuine ammo, and enough explosions to fill the sky on Independence Day.

Deuce loved it. Hax decidedly didn't.

-Okay, if the pattern stays consistent, there should be a break in three, two-

-One, gogogogogogogo! –

Deuce leapt out, immediately skidding to avoid a blast firing above him. His legs braced against a steel girder, and he jumped, back flipping over a scanner, and transformed, wheels skidding against the dust and sped towards another wall. He was almost there, when warning signals began to flash.

-Uh oh. –

Deuce tensed. –What's going on? –

-I do…ow. Somethi…is…ight –

Hax's voice faded out completely, and Deuce felt himself falling.

* * *

There was no stronger sense of pride than when a teacher watched a student come into his own. Deuce was quick to pick things up – a talent for evasion integrated in his processor. He'd struggled at first – Ironhide had had to work through his share of temper tantrums in the early weeks, but now the youngling could glide through the course, poking fun and mocking Ironhide's 'obvious' flaws in design.

So he'd upped the ante, with a strongly worded promise from his student that Ratchet would never find out, and brought in real ammo. It was all well in good getting the kid to jump through hoops, but too many mechs fell when the added distraction of injury was added to the mix.

But so far Deuce was performing perfectly, eagerly making his way through the course, speeding, jumping, flipping as if he'd been doing it stellar cycles.

Oh, wait. Spoke too soon.

He chuckled to himself as the bike wobbled – one of the shots must have razzled him more than he'd thought, and watched him get through a shaky transformation.

"Okay, kid" he said to himself more than anything. "Shake it off, stay where you are and continue."

Only Deuce didn't seem to be shaking it off. He was leaning against the wall, the slight tremor becoming a vicious shivering. His hands came to his head, and he collapsed.

Ironhide cursed and immediately shut down the weaponry.

"Slag! Deuce!"

He transformed for speed, but gingerly picked up the small frame when he was close enough. The youngling showed no injury – clearly the weaponry hadn't got in a shot he hadn't seen, but Deuce was out cold.

Hax. It had to be. Transforming once again, he angled Deuce so that he would end up lying in his bed, and sped back to the base.

* * *

More flashes.

More images.

People running…

Bumblebee staring at him in pain…

Mikaela crying…

Hax knew all of them, but they were going faster now. Harder to keep track of what was happening.

And with them unable to keep him distracted, he realised there was something else in the midst of the dark and memories.

"Somebody…somebody else is here…"

The images vanished, and he fell into the dark.

* * *

"Ratchet!"

The medic jerked up from the conversation he'd been having with Rhinox to glare at the topkick driving in the door.

"Ironhide, I've told you a hundred times not to transform in…Deuce!"

He stormed over, carefully picking up the small frame. "What did you do!"

His passenger gone, Ironhide transformed to match the glare. "Nothing! He was working through the course no problem, when he started to glitch. By the time I realised something was wrong, he'd gone into stasis."

"Perhaps Hax has left again?" Rhinox asked, getting two headshakes in reply.

"Doubtful," Ratchet replied. "We've been monitoring Deuce and his energy signals. If Hax were to leave, even for a moment, we'd pick up the transfer. He didn't do this."

"Not intentionally anyway," Ironhide finished.

Ratchet had Deuce down on the berth, and was beginning to scan, when suddenly, the youngling's optics snapped open. The medic relaxed when they twitched, and he turned to stare at the medic.

"…Rat-thet?"

Ratchet glared at him. "You scared us, kid. What happened?"

Deuce didn't answer, choosing to stare up at Ratchet incredulously. "Ratchet?"

The medic frowned. "Yes?"

Deuce pushed himself into a sitting position, confusion on his faceplates as he took in the other two in

the room. "Ironhide…Rhinox…how…?"

Ironhide was staring at him with narrowed optics. "Did you hit your processor on the way down runt? You're acting a little more spooked than usual."

But Deuce was already ignoring him, staring at his hand as if it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

A dark nervous feeling was tightening around Ratchet's spark.

"Deuce. What's wrong?"

Slowly, the youngling pulled his gaze from his hand, and stared up at the medic.

"I'm not Deuce," said Hax.

_To be continued . . ._


	9. Meeting

**Chapter 9 – Meeting**

He'd only been in the driver's seat ten minutes, but Hax was ready to stand in front of Primus himself and declare that limbs were the most fascinating things in the universe. He could hold back the giggle as one hand slid down his arm, ending at its partner and pulling the middle finger back. Pain was a new concept – remembered but never experienced.

Though judging from the looks he was receiving, now was probably not the time for experimentation.

"How?" Ironhide uttered, not for the first time. "How is that…how?"

Hax shrugged, relishing the movement. "Don't know. Just am."

"Unfortunately, I can't add anything," Ratchet added, turning away from the simulations he'd been looking over. "Best guess, Deuce and Hax have temporarily swapped roles, I think Deuce is losing control."

"Deuce is still there," Rhinox added, nodding in union with Hax. "Just dormant. I don't think he knows how to function without access to most of his systems. How long this will last for though, I can't say."

"Where are Bumblebee and Jazz?" asked Ironhide.

"Either in the control room or on patrol. And do **not** inform them! The last thing we need is the two of them going into full panic mode."

Hax snickered at that, and decided to try standing. Ironhide shook his head, watching the youngling struggle to his feet, and chose to reply over internal comms.

'_You have to move up the surgery.'_

'_We can't!' was the hissed reply. 'The odds of both surviving…'_

'_And yet, if we don't, we run the risk of losing both…'_

"You know, I'm starting to understand why Deuce hates it when you do that."

All three were privy to Hax's very first glare, one foot tapping against the berth's surface.

"This is bad," Hax began. "I know this is bad – you'd have to be an idiot not to know this is bad, but can you stop whispering and tell me **how** bad?"

His irritation only grew when the three started talking over his head again, though admittedly without using the comms.

"Prime is visiting Secretary Keller right now. He insisted on being here when we started."

"That's what comm. links are for!" Ironhide snapped at the medic. "Besides, he'll be on his way back this afternoon – you can start tomorrow. One day isn't going to hurt…right?"

"Right. We think," Rhinox added. "But I think we are overlooking something."

Now the optics dropped, and Hax backed up. Unfortunately, he was still getting used to his own weight, and stumbled over his own feet.

"Woah!"

Ratchet lunged to catch him, only to miss by inches, and Hax crumbled back down on the berth.

"Ow," he groaned. "You guys make walking look so easy."

"Hax," Rhinox began, kneeling to face the youngling optic-to-optic. "In some ways this is a good thing. There is something we must discuss with you, and perhaps it's better face-to-face."

Optics shuttered in resignation. "Oh boy, let's hear it."

He heard movement to the side, and looked up to find Ratchet kneeing by Rhinox.

"Hax," Ratchet began. "Your spark has never had to survive on its own, and even in our best simulations, you have only 5% chance of stabilising."

The youngling just kept staring at them.

"But…that's just simulations right? It's not completely reliable."

"True," Rhinox grudgingly admitted. "There have been cases where sparks have defied the odds against them – there is a spiritual aspect to them that no medical textbook can properly explain."

"But," Ratchet warned, "as the medic performing the surgery, I have to say the odds are against you."

Hax dropped his gaze, clearly thinking it over.

"What…what are Deuce's chances?"

"A lot better," Ratchet replied. "Best estimate is 75%. He will most likely make it."

Hax nodded. "Then it's okay with me."

The two kneeling mechs were a little taken aback.

"Are you sure you don't want to think about it a little more?" Rhinox asked, and Hax shook his head.

"No. We all know we can't stay the way we have; it's not safe for either of us. So if this is our best shot, we should take it. Deuce will say the same."

Rhinox exhaled and stood. "I guess that's that then. I'll start preparing the clean room."

"We'll still have to wait for Optimus, but I'll get Maggie and Mikaela ready, and inform Bumblebee of the situation," Ratchet added, and glared at Hax.

"You. Stay here."

Hax grinned, and tried to stand up, only to collapse again and clutch his head.

"Ooh! Ow."

"Slag," Ironhide hissed, hands supporting the far smaller Cybertronian. "What now?"

But as quick as it had come, it vanished, and Hax's hands slipped away from his head, and looked up at them in confusion.

"How'd I get here?" Deuce asked.

* * *

The next day came too soon for most involved. Deuce was holed up in the medical bay, while Rhinox, Ratchet, Bumblebee and the girls put the finishing touches on the clean room that had been constructed. Meanwhile Jazz had been called to Optimus's office, the Peterbuilt having been informed of the situation. Sitting behind his desk, he kept his optics on his first lieutenant pacing around the room.

"Deuce is aware of the dangers?"

Jazz nodded. "He's not too happy about Hax's chances, but since Hax has given his approval he's not refusing it. They'll be starting in a couple of hours once you've given the go-ahead."

"Right. I'll make my way there soon."

That should have been the end of it, but Jazz noticed the tenseness in Optimus's frame, fighting with depression.

"Something happen with Keller?"

Optimus sighed, leaning forward and dropping his head in his hands. "I have some bad news. News that Deuce cannot, under any circumstances, learn."

Which narrowed the possible topics down to one. Jazz shook his head in disbelief.

"Please don't say Simmons. I will love you and love you forever if you don't say Simmons, boss."

Optimus stood, his chair squealing in protest. "Keller discovered he'd been released. Someone hacked into his files and changed his charges. By the time anyone realised the error, he was long gone."

The Pontiac's hands clenched into fists. "Who? Who in their right minds would do that? And how do we find him?"

"I don't know," Optimus growled. "Agent Simmons had many contacts. Any one of them might have the ability. And if he's underground, it'll be difficult to track him."

"Surely he's not crazy enough to come back for Deuce," Jazz said incredulously. "He must know he'd never pull if off twice."

"He sacrificed his career, his friends, his family and his freedom for the first attempt. He doesn't have anything left but his obsession – sanity is likely not a factor anymore."

"Should we tell Deuce?"

"No. We'll inform the others, but this is the last thing he needs right now. With any luck we can resolve this without him ever knowing."

* * *

The clean room that had been constructed wasn't so much a room as it was a box. It appeared to be constructed of glass, but it was a Cybertronian equivalent that was far stronger and much more suited to their purposes. Along one wall were the necessary monitors, along with two cylindrical containers, while the only other furniture was the medical table – smaller than usual, to accommodate the smaller patient. A patient that was already lying down, preparing while the others milled around him.

-Are you ready? –

Deuce sighed. –No. How come you're not more nervous? –

Hax laughed. –Oh I'm plenty nervous, but I think this is meant to happen. –

He was rewarded with a laugh. –So you're not worried about your chances? –

-If you're not strong enough to stand on your own, you're not strong enough to survive, – Hax replied, more serious than Deuce could remember him ever being. –Besides, I think someone else is pulling the strings here. –

-What do you?… -

"Okay, Deuce, we're ready."

Ratchet's voice brought him back, and he turned his head to see out the glass (look out of the glass). Outside, both Optimus and Jazz were watching. Optimus regarded the youngling with sympathy.

"Ratchet will put you in stasis, Deuce," Optimus explained. "Once the sparks have been split, they will be removed fully from your body and placed in the chambers to help stabilisation."

Deuce turned his head to look at the two cylinders. So that was what they were for.

"Once you've stabilised, your spark will be returned," Optimus continued. "But Hax will remain in the stasis chamber, should he stabilise, in order to build a body for him (while we build a body for him). Do you understand?"

Deuce nodded. "I'm ready."

Optimus nodded, and Deuce noticed Jazz giving him a sloppy salute before his view was blocked. Then, Bumblebee's hand was on his shoulder, and Ratchet's hand moving closer…

And out went the light.

* * *

With his patient safely in stasis, his team prepped and his commander watching, Ratchet opened the spark chamber and fingered his newest tool.

An energon sealer. In rare cases, most before the war, Sparks had been damaged after injuries too close to their spark chambers. The spark would destabilise, breaking up, fusing back together and breaking up again until it shattered into meaningless light. An energon sealer, if brought into play soon enough, the energon blade could attract spark energy, guiding it and pulling it back together, fusing the spark back together.

If the sealer could coax a spark together, it could force it apart. In theory.

Optics narrowing, he descended on the spark.

* * *

Deuce hadn't been sure what to expect from the operation. Pain…nervousness…an apathetic feeling of loss while separated from his body…all seemed possible. A full on medical stasis couldn't be performed with a spark op, so his former…experience seemed more likely.

However, he was fairly certain _conscious_ hadn't been on that list. Conscious…and staring at a door.

A door in the middle of nothing. A door that was now opening by itself.

He didn't remember walking – belatedly realising he had somehow forged a body for this mind game, and stumbled inside. The door slammed shut behind him, and he stared in confusion.

He'd been inside Will's home enough times to recognise a human habitat. Judging from the bed, it served as sleeping quarters. A large metal shelf seemed to separate the room, and he walked around it, noticing the desks. The windows were glowing with the dull light of sunset, overlooking a well-kept garden.

He _knew_ this room.

"Huh, should have guessed."

Deuce yelped at the voice behind him and swung round defensively…only to have his mouth drop at the mirror image in front of him.

"…Hax?"

The body-double shrugged. "I think so."

"What do you mean, 'you think so?' How are you doing this?"

Hax shook his head. "I'm not doing anything."

He pointed behind Deuce. "He is."

Slowly, the Ducati turned around, looking over at the chair by the desk that he was certain had been empty before.

He was sitting the wrong way in the chair, arms lying on the back supporting his head, a rather sheepish grin on his face.

"Guess you figured it out, huh?"

Hax matched the grin.

"Hello, Sam."

_To be continued . . ._


	10. Maybes

**Chapter 10 – Maybes**

Deuce was not going to stare. He was not going to stare and he definitely wasn't going to gape. Because he was not seeing this – this was impossible. Oblivious to his host's mental trauma, Hax was buying into it, leaning over and tapping on the fish bowl balanced on the desk.

"Nice place you got here," he complimented. "You even got pets. How come you got a room and I don't?"

Sam shrugged. "Luck of the draw maybe?"

"No."

Both looked up to see Deuce furiously shaking his head, hands tightly clenched.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he snapped. "This is not happening. The last thing I need is _another_ voice in my head. Especially not you!"

The last sentence would have been harsh had it not been said in such a pitiful whine, but Sam glared at him all the same.

"Hey, don't look at me, this is all **your** doing."

Deuce blinked. "Huh?"

Sam sighed, and turned to look out the windows, focused on something neither mech could quite see.

"I was gonna fade in oblivion – become one big happy entity with the cute little sparking. That is until the cute little sparkling had the mother of all temper tantrums and tried to delete me. The practical upshot of all this is that, not only did you isolate me and the Lookout program from your processor, but we also got split off from each other."

He shrugged suddenly relaxing and smiling. "Or, hey, maybe this was always meant to happen. I get the feeling that stupid cube was a lot smarter than anyone figured."

Hax was piecing it together faster than Deuce. "You woke up round about the same time I did, didn't you? Only you didn't get any control. Least not till recently."

The boy turned back with a lopsided smile. "Not exactly…but we probably have minutes before ol' Doc Hatchet rips us apart, so we need to get down to business."

"What business?" Deuce replied, and the smile seemed to deepen.

"You need to kill me."

* * *

The work was frightfully delicate – Ratchet didn't dare split more than a few millimetres at a time. The outer core was less dangerous, but just as important. Too much on either side could send both flying into collapse. So far, though, it was going as the simulations had predicted. The two halves were independent enough here to not be at risk.

"Ratchet," Rhinox warned. "We're ready for you to start on the core."

The tool came up, and Ratchet sighed, trying to force his arms into being less tense.

"Is everything prepared?"

From the sides, eyeing the two stasis containers and sets of monitors, Mikaela and Maggie gave thumbs up, while Bumblebee kept his optics focused on the small frame on the table.

"Everything's ready, Ratchet."

The medic sighed once again, and dived (dove) in.

* * *

"Kill you?" Deuce squawked.

"Well, maybe _kill _is a little over-the-top given that I'm already dead," Sam amended. "And I'm talking more to Lookout here."

The teenager's eyes focused on the mech, staring for an eerily long time.

"When you two separate, I'm gonna get to leave. I don't exactly know where I'll be going, but I can."

He broke contact and stared out the window again. "Or, if I hang around, I can keep you stable."

Deuce perked up, but faltered when he realised Hax wasn't responding. His other was keeping up the staring contest.

"What'll happen to you if you stay?"

Both mechs wondered if he'd even heard the question, before Sam gave a slow shrug.

"Probably what was happening originally. I'll fade out while Hax takes over. Status quo."

Hax sighed. "Then you can't stay. That would make this whole thing pointless."

"You sure?" Sam pressed, and Deuce moved closer, placing a hand on Hax's shoulder. The former program was trying to hide it, but he was trembling.

"Yeah," he finally replied, looking up with a cocky grin. "If I can't stand on my own, then I have no right to exist anyway."

The room started to flicker, and both mechs started, while the only human in the room grinned and stood up, swinging an arm around Hax's shoulders, pushing him towards the door. Deuce found the other arm round his once he came into reach, with Sam keeping them from looking too closely at the now disintegrating room.

"Good to hear. You know, I have a really, really good feeling about all this. You'll be fine."

"That makes one of us," Hax groaned, and received a grin in return.

"Hey, what happened to that confidence you had earlier?"

Both mechs glared at him, and Sam shrugged.

"Fine, fine. If you need a little incentive…"

The hand on Hax's shoulder began to glow, and held tight when Hax tried to move away. Within moments it had passed, and he felt a comfortable weight settle in his mind.

"That's a gift for Bumblebee," Sam explained. "When you wake, make sure he gets it for me."

Hax stilled. "Wait, shouldn't you give that to Deuce?"

Sam's arms slid off their shoulders as they reached the door, now the only solid item in the room. "I was gonna, but no need now. You're gonna make it, remember? Good luck."

And with that, he pushed the two into the darkness beyond, and the boy vanished as the room crumbled into harmless data streams.

"That squishy little slagger!" Deuce shrieked, falling through nothingness.

"Think you just insulted your creator," Hax chimed, and gasped as his own frame went the same way as the bedroom, flickering in and out like a bad hologram. The shout from his right was enough to tell him Deuce was going through the same.

"Looks like we don't have much time!" Deuce shouted. "Ratchet must be nearly finished."

"Yeah," Hax replied, feeling his nerves return.

"You'd better make it!"

He turned to see Deuce glaring at him. "I'm not gonna be the one to explain to Bumblebee why he didn't get his present."

Hax grinned. "Fine. Might take me a while, but I'll get there. Just do me a favour when they wake you up."

"What?"

Hax flickered out of existence, his final words echoing before Deuce did the same.

"Make it blue!"

* * *

Ratchet clenched his denta. The two sparks were almost fully separated, and fluctuating wildly.

"And…now!"

The blade swiped clear, forcing both sparks to jerk apart. The larger was pulsing erratically, while the smaller rippled and twisted like a ribbon on the wind. Mikaela and Maggie flew over, bringing both stasis canisters with them.

"Rhinox, get Deuce inside," Ratchet ordered. "Bumblebee, grab the electromagnets and help me keep Hax stable."

While Rhinox coaxed the larger, already-starting-to-stabilise spark into one container, the medic and scout kept the smaller from shattering by pinning it with the magnets, forcing it to stay together as it was carefully placed inside the container, which would keep the same effect up for longer. Unfortunately, the spark didn't seem to be calming, pulsing, rippling, looking every bit like an exploding supernova. Compared to the calm spark of Deuce, it was clear something was wrong.

"That's not good is it?" Mikaela asked, the first to admit it

"It's better than most of the simulations would have suggested," Ratchet admitted. "Most had him collapsing before we even got him in the container. All we can do now is wait."

"What about Deuce?" Maggie asked, nodding to the stable spark. "Do we put him back?"

"Not just yet," Ratchet replied, brushing a hand against the container before heading for the door. "Give him a day to recover, just in case. Rhinox, keep an eye on them – I'll debrief Prime."

As Ratchet walked out, Rhinox gave Deuce's body a quick scan for any unexpected discrepancies, and frowned, catching Bumblebees attention.

"Is something wrong?"

"Not exactly…there just appears to be a slight weight miscalculation. Sparks don't weight much, but we must have miscalculated."

"How so?"

Rhinox shrugged and finished the scan.

"Deuce's protoform weighs approximately 21 micrograms less than expected."

"Is that a problem?"

"No," Rhinox replied. "Its not a discrepancy of any merit. I wouldn't worry about it."

* * *

Three days later, the situation was still the same. Mikaela walked in to find Hax's spark still hanging on for dear life, but showing no signs of actually stabilising. Leaning against the container in a silent vigil was Deuce, now returned to his body, scribbling something on sheets of paper. A new addition, the toddler Annabelle was with him, doodling with less gusto with thick crayons. Not too far away, Will was watching with the doting smile only a parent can have while speaking with Ratchet and Optimus.

"It's just too cute," the soldier said as a greeting. "Whenever Deuce picks up a different colour, Annie does the same. Watch."

He pointed, and Mikaela followed to see Deuce toss away a black pencil and pick up blue. Moment's later, Annabelle's own black crayon fell to the table while she hunted for her own blue one. Mikaela bit her lip to keep the smile at bay.

"I didn't think Deuce drew."

"That makes two of us," Ratchet replied. "He's trying to design a body for Hax. I asked if he wanted to do it via the computers, but he wanted to spend time with Annabelle."

Mikaela swung her gaze up. "Hax is stable?"

The spark certainly didn't look it, and judging from the look on both Cybertronians' faces, that hope was unfounded.

"No," Optimus replied. "But Deuce believes we should prepare regardless. He says that should Hax's spark fail, we should at least have a body to send off."

"Sparks don't leave much to say 'goodbye' to," Ratchet finished.

"Not that it matters," Deuce called over. "He's gonna make it."

Will sighed. "Wish I was as confident. How's his chances now?"

Ratchet looked over at the canister, regret all over his face. "They get worse by the hour. Two more days, and if he hasn't stabilised…he's not going to. Even if he hasn't self-collapsed, the spark will be too dispersed to ever function."

"Does Deuce know?" Mikaela asked, voice just above a whisper.

"We haven't told him," Optimus answered, just as quietly. "He's been in much better mental state since the operation – we don't want to ruin it. But I suspect he already knows."

The youngling in question showed no signs of hearing the conversation, instead picking up the final pencil and finishing off his work with a flourish.

"Ratchet!" he called, waving the paper in the air while Annabelle kept working. "I'm done."

Taking the cue, the medic walked over, picking up the ridiculously small sheet. It was too high for either of the humans to get a good look, but it was clearly more far more technical than any human child would have created – looking more like a blueprint than a drawing. By the side of the design, dozens of cybertronian symbols were listed, probably specifications.

Annabelle, noticing the commotion, held up her own masterpiece, quickly collected by Will.

"So what's my baby girl been working on? Is that Deuce? And you? And…"

The little pink blob had been easy enough to guess, as had the red and white one. But the blue blob threw him for a loop.

"…Optimus maybe."

Deuce shook his head, and pointed up at Ratchet's hand. "Her version of Hax. He wants to be blue."

Will just looked at him, and then at his daughter, brow furrowed as he tried to understand just how Deuce had managed to explain the concept of Hax to a child that was still surprised by peek a boo. Judging from the grin on Deuce's face, he understood the confusion completely.

"She just copied what I drew. Sort of."

Meanwhile, Optimus had walked over to look at Deuce's drawing, while Ratchet looked over the specifications, handing it over to his curious Prime and staring down at the youngling, raising an optic ridge.

"I noticed most of those specifications are identical to yours…except for one."

Deuce whistled innocently.

"Are you really going to be that petty?"

Deuce grinned.

"Uh huh."

Ratchet sighed. "Fine. I'll start work this afternoon. We have enough materials and on base to construct it pretty quickly."

Just then, both mech's comms activated, and Jazz's voice came through.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," he chimed. "But remember those incoming Decepticons we picked up?"

Optimus tensed. "They've reached Earth's atmosphere?"

"Big time," Jazz replied. "We'll have contact in less than 5 hours. And if wanna catch them on impact, we'd better leave now."

Will sighed and pulled out his phone, fingers pushing in the secure number to Keller. "Never a quiet day around here. Mikaela, my wife's in the monitor room with Maggie, can you tell her to come get Annabelle and head home? Something tells me I'm not coming home tonight."

_To be continued . . ._


	11. Mayday

Yeah...considering how long all of you have had to wait for this, it should be a novella. Instead, its a fairly short paragraph. I struggled and fought with this for months, before deciding just to cut out the flotsam that was holding me back. Hope it was worth the wait though.

* * *

**Chapter 11 - Mayday**

The jets were designed for maximum agility and intimidation, unlike anything this tiny planet underneath had ever seen. Their wings gleamed with the heat from entering the atmosphere, nothing more than a prickle on their sensors and adjusted their course to follow the beacon that had been calling them for so many months.

After far too many cycles waiting around, they were not waiting another second. But, as they honed in on the signal, one paused ever so slightly, and jerked as a small object burst from within, breaking apart but heading in a very distinct direction.

'_Rumble!_' shrieked the jet. _'What do you think you're doing._'

The asteroid didn't reply, fleeing out of sight. The seeker growled and transformed, closely followed by his partner.

"Slagging thing all but begs for a ride and then dumps us the second we make planetfall?"

Skywarp snapped. "I just do not _get_ Soundwave's midgets."

"Does anyone?" Thundercracker replied. "Wanna go grab him?"

"...Nah. He's small fry. Have to face Starscream eventually, and I'm bored."

"Yeah...Starscream better have a plan."

"It's Starscream, he always has a plan."

"...Let me rephrase. Starscream better have a _good_ plan."

"Ohhh..."

Thundercracker sighed and transformed back into a jet, continuing his descent, closely followed by his trine mate.

* * *

Lower and lower they flew, until the buildings beneath them became clear. The temptation to fire prickled through their sparks, but they ignored it, heading for the desert further along. Their trine leader was apparently going for subtlety for once and keeping them out of sight. The signal grew stronger, and two frames came into view, driving across the desert and stopping at the coordinates. Neither of which had wings.

Their confusion grew as they transformed and landed, studying the two machines who also transformed to greet them. There was Hook, and next to him was...no...

Thundercracker considered himself an excellent soldier. He carried out his orders without complaint, he gave his opinion when asked and stayed mute when not, and never treated his superiors with anything but the respect they required.

Skywarp had no such morals, and collapsed to the ground in laughter as he recognised the silver car accompanying the Constructicon. Seconds later, Thundercracker broke, and joined him. Starscream growled in annoyance, but that only seemed to spur the two on.

And now Hook was snickering. Again. Wonderful.

"Will the two of you just shut up!"

Skywarp choked back his giggles to get back to his feet, and smirked.

"Whatever you say, Wheelie."

The Jet was fast enough to dodge the first blast, not so much on the second. He yelped and crashed to the ground, while Thundercracker quickly stepped out of Starscream's line of sight. The seeker looked tempted to fire again, but retracted his weapon instead.

"If you're quite done, we'll have company in a matter of nanoclicks. So get in the air and start doing your job."

Skywarp brightened, and jumped up. "Autobots? Finally! It's been forever since I got to pound on them."

He jerked back when Starscream glared at him once more.

"Do NOT go overboard. I am not wearing this ridiculous get up for fun. We won't be at full strength until we retrieve my wings, and Optimus and his followers are not to be taken lightly. So unless you plan on _joining_ me on the ground, retreat is the final objective. Understood?"

The seekers nodded, and jumped into the air.

* * *

Deuce tapped the stylus against the paper as he tried to figure out where he'd gone wrong. He was trying to recreate the blueprints of the base to see if there was anywhere he'd been forgetting about hiding. Ratchet and Bumblebee were getting close to finding his place in the rafters – they'd seen him head for his 'tunnel' one too many times, and he might need an alternative. However, without Hax goading him on, it was too hard to concentrate.

He gave a sidelong glance to the chamber where his other half's spark resided. It was still fluctuating, spread out far too widely and flashing fast enough to give human seizures. He sighed and turned away. This was depressing.

"You should have gotten better by now," he muttered.

"He still has time youngling."

Deuce looked in Ratchet's direction. The medic was looking at him fondly. "This has never been done before. The fact that he's still here is a testament to him. Don't give up."

Deuce smiled. "Wasn't gonna."

Ratchet smiled back, then flinched as a report from the security sensors pricked his own. It was picking up energon levels from just outside. But not particularly strong ones...

"Ratchet?"

The youngling had picked up on his tenseness, and was watching him carefully.

"Stay here, Deuce, I'll be right back."

He walked out the door, heading for the entrance with purpose.

"I swear, if Jazz has been experimenting with drones without informing me again..." he growled, but activating his gun just in case.

Perhaps he should have been more cautious, something he kicked himself for again and again after the fact, but he was used to ignoring such small signals.

When something growled and landed on his neck joints, sending his systems into a crashing spiral of pain, the medic swore he never would again.

Ratchet jerked his head, hands flying, and he caught sight a shockingly familiar mech.

'Frenzy?'

No...Rumble...

Oh Primus no...

"Ratchet!"

Both heads jerked up at the shriek, and one pair of optics widened in horror, another in satisfaction.

Deuce was standing in the doorway, frozen.

Rumble jumped, aiming for the youngling, but Ratchet could see it coming, yanking the mech back and trying to crush him in his hands.

"Deuce!" Ratchet roared. "Get to the medbay and activate the security protocols. Do NOT leave!"

The youngling didn't move, and Rumble slipped out, scurrying up Ratchets limb.

"Now, Deuce!"

The youngling fled, and Ratchet swung an arm – too late. Rumble was already at his neck. Thin and frail, vicious hands slipped into the cracks of Ratchet's armour, and he felt his systems go numb.

He made another lunge, desperate to grab the small mech, but Rumble was already gone, and Ratchet had just enough time to register the strike before crashing to the ground, awake but frozen in his shell.

Satisfied that his only threat was immobile, Rumble jumped from the body and smirked, kicking dust at the head before slowly heading in the direction Deuce had run.

"Rumble!" Ratchet gasped. "He's just a youngling, leave him be!"

The small mech paused, and cocked his head.

"No. He's more than that. So much more."

And with that bounded off deep into the base.

"Rumble! Rumble!"

It was no use. Ratchet cursed, and activated his emergency subroutines in an attempt to get back up on his feet, then activated his comm, thankfully still functioning.

"Prime! We have a major problem!"

* * *

"It's the Seekers!"

The convoy immediately swerved, narrowly missing the first barrage of blasts fired their way.

"Autobots, scatter!" Optimus ordered, transforming and equipping his sword. Skywarp had already turned and was heading for his next strike.

Such was the Prime's concentration that when his comm blipped, he brushed it aside with another thought, and leapt into the fray.

With the road clear, and the Autobots eyes on the sky, the reventon and bulldozer sped past, completely ignored.

* * *

Deuce slammed the door of the medbay shut, hastily pounding the buttons to lock it down. He backed up, and bolted over to Hax's spark.

"Hax," he whispered. "Help me – I don't know what to do now."

The door buckled, and the youngling flinched at the high pitched growls that followed.

...But froze at the skittering footsteps of someone climbing upwards. There were maintenance shafts above the medbay, barely large enough for a human to climb in. They had no access to the medbay, but the walls were thinner...

Almost subconsciously, Deuce crawled around the chamber, crouched and hidden by the metal panelling but kept his eyes on the maintenance panels above. He smothered a shriek as high above, a shot blasted straight into the room, and looked up to see the red optics of a far too smug Decepticon.

The small silver frame jumped to the floor, landing with a heavy thud. As red optics scanned the room, Deuce tensed.

"Come out, come out, little spark..."

Behind the chamber, Deuce stayed frozen as the cassette tiptoed closer. He knew he'd have the size advantage, but he'd heard enough stories from Jazz and Bee to know smaller mechs could take out behemoths with ease once they had the experience. And he had no weapons...

The youngling slowly crept around, trying to follow the route Rumble was taking, when the footsteps stopped. He froze, trying to figure out where his foe had gone, before the sound of digits on glass drew his attention upwards.

Rumble was perched on the top of Hax's chamber, and was grinning.

"Found you."

Deuce shrieked and bolted, just narrowly missing the sharp projectiles thrown his way. Rumble jumped down and followed at a relaxed pace. Deuce had fled to Ratchet's larger medical berth, hiding behind one of the legs. He froze as Rumble paused, and turned to look back at the spark floundering in the chamber behind him.

"What's this?"

He crept forward.

"This one feels like you too...that's impossible."

A sharp claw scratched along the glass, and the spark went crazy, flying and dispersing in its cage.

"Stop that!" Deuce screamed, jumping from his hiding place and running towards the Deception. Rumble swung round, firing another shuriken. This one hit Deuce square in the shoulder, and the youngling crashed to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Don't..." he moaned. "Don't hurt Hax."

The cassette was walking towards him. "Hax? He feels like you. Is he special? Is he your brother perhaps?"

Brother?

Deuce rolled over, trying to pull himself up, and nodded. Brother. It was as close a word in English to what Hax was. His admittance made Rumble chuckle, and he plucked one of the projectiles that had missed from the floor, fingering it with frightening focus.

"Perhaps I'll just shatter that case. Let you watch him die."

Deuce jerked to his feet. "No."

Something stabbed his servos, and he crashed down again.

"Why shouldn't I?" Rumble hissed.

Deuce froze at his next words.

"My brother died for you."

* * *

Skywarp cackled as his shots forced the Autobot leader off the road and into his true form. Oh how he'd missed actually having something _interesting_ to shoot.

'_Skywarp!_' Starscream hissed on his comm. '_Stop playing around and retreat!'_

'_What!_' Skywarp whined. _'We've got em pinned!'_

'_Do not question me, Skywarp!'_ Starscream hissed_. 'Move out, or you'll be the one trying out the wheeled mode next.'_

The seeker growled, and fired one last barrage before shooting up into the sky, too far for the Autobots to follow, before spinning and arcing over, coming in to glide over the speeding vehicles. Moments later, Thundercracker was by his side, flanking their small convoy.

"Why, Screamer?" the Seeker whined. "We had them!"

"And in five minutes they will have the human army here ready to take us out," Starscream snapped back. "The fleshlings may be small but they were cannibalising parts from Megatron for vorns. And they're surprisingly hard to target lock. I am not risking anything until we have a full trine in the air."

"And then?" Thundercracker asked.

"And then I have one little piece of a puzzle to collect, and then you can have all the fun your sparks desire."

"...Promise?"

"On my spark."

"...fine."

* * *

"You can't imagine what it felt like" Rumble hissed, still stroking the glass. "To have a connection so strong even the universe couldn't weaken it, only to feel it rip apart in the blink of an eye. To feel every iota of isolation, and yet still be expected to carry on.

And to make it worse...I could still feel him. Faintly, weakly, but he was still there. Soundwave couldn't explain it, so I decided to hunt it down myself. I grovelled at the feet of those stupid seekers for the chance; I thought maybe my brother had survived.

That Frenzy was waiting for me."

He glared at Deuce in contempt. "And instead I find you. A pathetic little Autobot youngling scavenged from the dead. You don't deserve his parts."

Deuce took a step forward, holding his arm against his chest. "He...he killed hundreds. You can't blame someone for doing the same to him."

"We are at war," Rumble hissed. "How is killing one to give life to another justified by Autobot standards?"

Deuced faltered. He wasn't sure how to answer that.

"They didn't need him. I can almost feel Barricade rolling through your armour. He was more than enough. Did they think a cassette wouldn't matter?"

The Youngling shook his head. "You don't know anything! That wasn't-"

"We are tools!" Rumble shrieked. "Not even soldiers, just minions of one. Frenzy was the one thing I could count on, and they took him from me. So I'll take yours in payment!"

"NO!"

Rumble turned to stare at Hax's spark. "Take some comfort in this Sparkling. An eye for an eye. And a brother for a brother."

He made to shoot one final shuriken into the glass, when he heard a shriek, and footsteps running towards him. The cassette turned just in time to fire at Deuce, who stumbled, but didn't stop, and grabbed the smaller mech roughly, throwing them both into a roll, tossing them off the table. They hit the ground with a clang, and Rumble immediately jerked back, while Deuce moaned on the ground, his chest armour shattered by the almost point blank shot. Rumble took several steps back; fingering the torn energon lines the larger mech had somehow managed to latch onto and chuckled.

"So...you will protect that spark as well as yourself?"

Deuce was still writhing on the floor, but jerked his head up to growl. Rumble cocked his head at the malice on the young face, and began what could almost be called a smile.

"Hmph. Good."

The two jerked as the sound of footsteps in the corridor thundered towards them as a frightening pace.

"Looks like the medic finally reactivated himself," Rumble muttered, and leaped up the wall back to his makeshift entrance.

"This isn't over, Youngling. We will meet again, and one of us will get what we want."

With that, the cassette fled, and the doors to the medbay burst open.

"Deuce!"

The Youngling gave a weak wave.

"What took you so long?"

Ratchet thundered towards him, his growl drowned out only by the roar of his engine. At first Deuce flinched, until he realised sluggishly, that he wasn't the cause of the medic's anger. Strong arms carefully cradled him up, holding him close.

"You did very well. How do you feel?"

Deuce smiled. "Hurt."

Ratchet sighed as he ran a scan, while Deuce turned away, looking at Hax's chamber.

"He was going to kill Hax. I didn't want him to, but I couldn't stop him."

Fingers ran over the small helm. "Ah, little spark, you're young. Too young for this war I think. But both of you are still here, safe for now. You did the best you could."

But Deuce didn't seem to be listening. Instead he was silent, eyes focused on the table.

"Deuce?"

"Ratchet...look."

The medic followed the younglings gaze, and froze.

There, safe inside its containment field, a solid and stable spark shone.

* * *

To be continued...


	12. Memories

Once again, so sorry for how long this has taken - I promise to try and take less than six months to finish the next one.

Also, due to RL and the file format being wrong, this chapter hasn't been betaed, so any mistakes are solely mine.

Enjoy

* * *

**Upgrade 12**

Even knowing it was coming, Rumble felt Starscream tossing him through the wall was rather uncalled for. He crumpled to the ground and shook himself as footsteps came closer.

"What exactly. Did you think. You. Were. DOING?" the Seeker hissed, storming towards the fallen cassette, ignoring the trine mate trying to hold him back. "I order you all to keep as out of site as possible, and you perform a one mech siege on the Autobot base?"

He roared, and made a fist. Optics widening, Rumble shrieked and dived out of the way as the hand punched through the ground where he'd been seconds before. Oh how he missed Soundwave at times like this.

Starscream made to follow him, only to be held back by both Thundercracker and Hook.

"Will you stay still for more than five nanoclicks!" Hook hissed. "Or do you want to remain ground bound for the next cycle?"

The seeker growled, but held back. Thundercracker sighed in relief, and Hook continued his work on reattaching Starscream's wings. To the side, Skywarp pouted at the lack of damage, and immediately looked for something else interesting.

"Can't say much for this place" he muttered, glancing around Starscream's so called 'base'. In reality it was some kind of human installation that had been left abandoned for reasons unknown – and clearly required some work. Starscream and Hook had left a pile of junk inside, for their leaders grand plan.

"Shut it Skywarp" Starscream snapped, and returned to glaring at Rumble.

"Now you had better explain, and explain quickly."

It loathed him to sink this far, but with the seeker on a rampage, Rumble had little choice but to grovel.

"A thousand apologies Lord Starscream" he replied, wincing internally as he fell to the floor in submission. "I merely wanted to see what became of my brother."

If anything, this made Starscream madder, and Hook cursed again as Starscream pulled away and loomed over the tiny cassette, optics narrowing.

"The youngling. What. Did. You. Do? And I warn you now, if he's offline you'll soon follow..."

The youngling? He'd entered the base and the only thing Starscream was interested in was the youngling? Rumble shook his head. "Nothing! Nothing...permanent. I threatened him, injured him, but he was still functioning when I left."

With that, the tension left Starscream's frame, and he smirked.

"Fine, then your little escapade cause no real damage. But do it again and I'll rip you into so many pieces even you won't survive."

"And if you don't stay still you'll be staying in pieces" Hook muttered. "Now stay still."

"I am!" Starscream snapped back, and turned back to Rumble. "Now get up and tell me everything you learned about the base while you were there. Might as well put it to good use."  
Danger averted, Rumble leapt back to his feet, falling behind Starscream as he walked off. With no real retribution coming his way, he risked asking one question.

"Lord Starscream. Why is the Youngling so important?"

The smile on Starscream's face was almost terrifying.

"He's a very important piece in a game that's nearly over Rumble. And if you play your pieces correctly, you might very well get that little reminder of your brother back."

Rumble paused, and smiled.

Interesting...

* * *

As far as Hax was aware, Sam had never been dumped in a vat of glue. He was also certain that Deuce had never experience such an event.

Yet despite having absolutely no basis to justify it, Hax was sure being dumped in a vat of glue would feel somewhat like he did now.

Once Deuce had vanished, the darkness set in, and the invisible chains slipped over his existence and didn't let go. Suppression, sluggish non-movement. Even being a non-sentient program had felt more flexible than this...abyss.

He didn't want to stay there...but he didn't know where he was meant to go...

It was getting darker...and he was getting slower. Things were harder to remember...was there something he had to do? Someone he had to see?

No...It was too hard...hurt to think...if he stopped thinking would it stop hurting? That sounded good...

Then, a different kind of hurt. A hurt that went deeper...a hurt that made the other hurt go away.

Someone...someone important was hurting. Two? Two? Double? Duo? It was hard to think...just stop thinkin-

No.

NO.

It hurt, really hurt, but someone important was hurting too. He had to get to him. How? How? How? How? All he knew was the hurt.

Hurt...focus on the hurt. Wrap it in not hurt...

Was that light? It was pretty. He wanted to hold it.

Did he always have a hand? It made touching the light easier, so he decided he always had.

Oh, it was getting bigger now. The hurt was going away. He embraced it, and felt someone cradle him back.

Yes...that was right...someone waiting.

'_Deuce?'_

* * *

There was a flash of light, and Hax groaned as voices pounded through his head. In front of his optics, various graphs and frequencies flittered around for a brief moment before fading into obscurity.

"Ah, rise and shine sleeping beauty."

"Hax!"

The mech winced as a large frame loomed over him, scanning him meticulously.

"Do NOT get up" Ratchet snapped. "You shouldn't even BE up yet..."

"Aw come on Ratchet!" Deuce whined somewhere in the background, and Hax tried to move his head to see him. And then realised exactly what he'd done.

"...I have a head!"

"And shoulders, and knees, but no toes so you'll just have to settle for a couple of pedes" Jazz joked.

His vision was getting clearer, and the newly activated mech could finally tell he had quite the audience. Everyone from Optimus down appeared to be in the vicinity, and judging from the whining and the struggled stumbling coming from behind the much larger mechs, Deuce was not happy about being kept away.

"Bumblebee! Let. Me. See!"

Ratchet glanced over, sighed, and nodded at Hax. "Okay, get up. Before your other half fries a circuit."

Slowly, carefully...considering it was only the second time he'd ever been in control of a body, first time it was completely his, never-been-used, Hax pulled himself up on his arms, and pulled himself into a sitting position.

"...Morning?"

The collective group smiled back, and Hax immediately started looking for Deuce. Bumblebee was immediately at the side of the table, cradling the other Youngling in his hands. Deuce's optics lit up at the sight of him, and jumped to the table.

"Hax!"

Within seconds, the red Youngling's arms were wrapped around him with enough force to send them both crashing back down.

"Deuce!" Ratchet yelled. "What did I tell you about-"

"You scared me!" Deuce moaned, ignoring the medic. "Don't do that again!"

"Uh...I'm sorry?"

"Deuce" Optimus interjected. "While we can understand your elation, perhaps it would be best if you let Ratchet finish his examination?"

Slowly, and reluctantly, Deuce loosened his grip, and Hax took a closer look at him, optics widening at his outer armour, clearly missing paint and slightly dented.

"You're hurt!"

Deuce glanced down, and shrugged. "Ah, that's old news. Ratchet was gonna fix me up first but I insisted he finish you first."

"And you're not leaving here until I do" Ratchet warned, causing Rhinox, who'd been hanging back with Ironhide, to chuckle.

"It was touch and go for a while Youngling. We weren't sure you would make it – then you pulled yourself together at the last minute."

"So don't leave us in suspense" Jazz added. "What do you think?"

"Think?..."

In reply, Deuce pulled him to his feet, and gestured to his form.

Oh...

He lifted out his arms, and glanced down his new frame. He'd been given an alt mode, probably another Ducati, but his armour was dark blue, a random white stripe interceding the paint. Deuce smirked and tried to poke his eyes, only to be stopped by something in his way. Hax slid his hands across his new face, fingers sliding along the new visor that had been showing all the pretty pictures from earlier.

"That was my idea" Jazz admitted. "Trust me, if you're gonna be flicking through computers you're gonna want your own private monitor. Five minutes and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it."

Hax grinned, pulling up his schematics internally to view as a test. "Cool."

Then his grin faded as he took in what he was reading. He was very much aware of Deuce's own measurements, and something wasn't quite adding up. The youngling cocked his head at his red double, optics narrowing behind the visor as he took him in.

"Deuce..."

The Youngling grinned. He had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"...Why am I _shorter _than you?"

Bumblebee only just managed to choke back the giggle, while Jazz didn't bother. The rest just rolled their optics at the inevitable tantrum. Deuce just smirked.

"Ah, wondered how long it would take you to notice. Figured since you were younger, you could be my little brother."

"Little! You...how!"  
"Oh don't overreact" Ironhide muttered. "There's only about an inch in it."

"One point two five to be exact" Deuce chimed. "I wanted to make it a millimetre for every day I'd been alive that you weren't, but Ratchet said that was too much."

Hax was glowering now, and the bots swore they heard growling.

"Now now Hax" Jazz snickered. "You know size doesn't matter."

Hax just glared at him. "Say that to a human male. I _dare_ you."

* * *

Oddly enough, Hax actually having a physical body didn't really appear to change anything in the base. Deuce had been in and out of the med bay so much in the past few months that having him with a blue shadow really wasn't that much of a change. Much to Ratchet's dismay, Hax was about as good a patient as Deuce, and the two of them were climbing up the walls as he kept them in the med bay. Both had somewhere they wanted to go, and weren't happy about being kept away.

Finally, after driving their long suffering medic to his breaking point, he found himself marching in front of Jazz, Bumblebee and the newly parted twins, glaring with a might that would have made Ironhide proud.

"Alright, listen up." He began. "This is Hax's first trip out, and first time he'll be in vehicle mode for an extended period of time. Jazz!"

The Pontiac stood up straight.

"Where are you going?"

"Lookout. Straight there and back. No detours, side trips or extracurricular activities."

"Good. Bumblebee!"

"Yes Sir!"

"What are you to do it there are any, and I mean _any_ signs of malfunction or incident?"

"We come straight back, no questions asked. Younglings in my boot if necessary."

"Excellent. Deuce! Hax!"

"Jazz says jump, we say how high" Deuce chimed.

"And no being stupid" Hax finished. "At least, any more than normal."

Deuce giggled as Ratchet glared and Hax fled behind him.

"Kidding! Just kidding."

Ratchet growled, but waved them towards the door. "Out. And back in 60 minutes. FLAT. And I mean it!"

The four gave mock salutes and headed out. The second they were in the corridor, Deuce turned to Hax with a smirk.

"You do realise that he never once said we couldn't race?"

Hax rested his chin in his hand and nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that could be listed under 'nothing stupid'."

"...But?"

Hax grinned. "But he really _implicitly_ stated that we couldn't."

Twenty seconds later, two Ducati's screeched through the halls, and Bumblebee and Jazz sighed.

"Ah younglings..."

"Wouldn't have them any other way though."

"Too true. Race em?"

"You're on."

* * *

All things considered, it was one of the most peaceful trips to the Lookout they'd actually had. Nobody crashed from memory issues, there were no explosions, and no unexpected visitors. Deuce and Hax, in an unusual display of calm, had played a game of chicken to see who'd go closest to the steep hill (something that Jazz and Bumblebee swore Ratchet would _never_ find out about) before sitting side by side as it got darker. Their watchers were standing guard as vehicles – watching the two huddle together whispering furiously.

'_Do you think we should be worried?_' Jazz piped up.

'_...of what?'_

The Pontiac laughed over the comm. '_Whatever those two are planning?'_

Had it been possible, the camaro would have grinned. '_I'm sure whatever it is, we will inevitably be involved at some point. Probably as an alibi.'_

'_Hey now, they're not that bad'_ Jazz replied. _'Considering some of the things you got up to when you were thei-'_

"Bee?"

Both immediately silenced and focused on Hax, who was standing and heading towards Bumblebee with tentative steps. Every now and then he'd glance back at Deuce, who would nod approvingly.

"...Yes Hax?"

Encouraged, Hax sped up, and sat next to the front wheels.

"I have something for you. It's a gift."

Bumblebee's spark twinged. "Thank you Hax. You didn't have to do that."

"It's not from me" Hax replied, almost apologetically. "Its...well...it's complicated."

Deuce tapped on the camero's bonnet, grabbing the attention of both. Bumblebee was glad he was in vehicle mode and thus spared the embarrassment of appearing as if he hadn't noticed him approaching...which he hadn't.

"It's from Sam" Deuce said, and Bumblebee froze.

_What?_

"Deuce!" Hax yelled. "You can't just say it like that!"

"What?" his twin argued. "It is."

"Uh...maybe I'm missing something here" Jazz piped up. "But isn't that kind of impossible?"

Bumblebee didn't know how to answer, and Hax seemed to pick up on his disbelief, because he sighed, fingers brushing against the yellow paintjob.

"Think this would be best if I just...gave it now."

The Camaro tensed as static rustled through his circuits, then jerked as it flowed through him, easing him into another world...

* * *

"_Let me tell you something son, a driver don't pick the car, a car picks the driver. It's a mystical bond between man and machine..."_

"_Bumblebee!"_

"_You gotta get up, you're okay...you're okay..."_

Bumblebee shuddered as the words and emotions shot through him. So familiar and not his own.

"_I wish to stay with the boy."_

"_If that is his choice."_

'_He wants to stay...wants to stay with me.'_

Joy, sheer joy and relief and holy-crap-we-actually-made-it-out-of-this-alive – emotions bright and vibrant and nearly suffocating in their intensity. Bumblebee actually whimpered. Somewhere in his processor he recognised that he'd activated his transformation cog, but could bring himself to care.

"_Finally! Weekend. Gonna see Mikaela tomorrow so tonight it's all about you and me buddy."_

"_Bee! What's with all these speeding tickets?"_

"_I'm thinking maybe I should consider Astronomy as a major for college? What do you think?"_

Memories. Memories and emotions that shone with their primal 'Sam-ness'.

It was Sam. All their time, all their stories, from the other point of view.

It was like suddenly finding the missing pieces to a puzzle. Everything in Bumblebee's mind just 'clicked'. And yet.

A keening whine broke from his processor, and he tensed when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

"Bee?"

He forced himself to relax. Jazz, just Jazz.

"Bumblebee?"

The scout blinked, coming back to reality. He was kneeling on the ground, hands digging into the dirt. The younglings were watching him, confusion mixed with a heavy dose of fear.

"Did we break you?" Deuce asked. "We didn't mean to."

Bumblebee shook his head. "No...I'm fine. It was just...unexpected."

"Don't know how much you heard" Jazz began. "But apparently the dynamic duo met some ghost of Sam or something when they split up. Gave Hax whatever it is that made you short circuit."

Bumblebee looked up. "Memories. He left me memories."

Optics widened, and Jazz stepped back before recovering like a pro.

"Are you...okay?"

The camaro nodded, and began his transformation again.

'I think it's time we went. Ratchet wasn't kidding about the countdown."

He shut out the whines from the twin bikes, and ignored Jazz's prodding comms, choosing instead to sink into his gift.

It was memories, and emotions...but there was something else there. Something hidden in a corner, barely possible to see.

For a moment, in his mind's eye, he could see Sam smiling, and whispering words he'd never once said.

"_Take care of them Bee. They're gonna need it."_

* * *

In future, when remembering their drive back, Jazz would kick himself for thinking everything was going to be okay from now on.

Suddenly, Deuce swerved, screeching across the road. Behind him cars slammed on their brakes, followed by the honking of horns. He was frozen in the middle of the road, not reacting even to Hax circling him.

Bumblebee and Jazz immediately swung round, Bumblebee moving to keep traffic away, while Jazz moved in.

"Deuce?"

He didn't get an answer, and more worryingly, his hologram began to flicker.

Jazz cursed, this wasn't good.

-Deuce!-

-I got this Jazz-

Hax had braked at his side, between his brother and the Pontiac, and his own hologram was reaching out, hand appearing to grasp the handle of the other bike. A shot of electricity flew across the bikes, and Deuce jerked, wheels revving. Suddenly, he shot off, flying down the street.

-Aw slag! Deuce!-

A screech of tyres and Bumblebee was chasing after him, ignorant to Jazz's calls.

-Great. Hax with me, and I _mean _with me.-

* * *

Despite having an edge on speed and two extra wheels, Bumblebee didn't dare cut in front of the youngling. The frantic and erratic driving suggested that Deuce would just crash into him. Or worse, transform and leave them with yet another town of people who had to sign government waivers.

Hax didn't even stop when they finally hit the country roads, or even the base. Ratchet was waiting at the front, looking tense. Which became pure panic when Deuce bolted straight past him and into the base. He seemed torn between tearing after him, and rounding on Bumblebee. The medic in him finally won out and he gave chase, leaving Bumblebee outside to transform, and wait for Jazz and Hax to catch up.

"Okay – what the slat was that about?" Jazz snapped, transforming and heading in. Bumblebee shrugged.

"No idea. He wouldn't answer my calls either. Hax?"

The Youngling shook his head, and jerked up when he heard footsteps thundering towards them.

"Every time! How in the pit does he vanish every. Damn. Time!"

He pointed at Bumblebee and Jazz with gusto. "What. Happened?"

Both of them shrugged. "Seriously have no clue Ratch" Jazz replied. "Things were going great. Had a good time at the Lookout, were coming home, suddenly, Deuce _freaks_. Just stopped in the middle of the road and shut **down.**"

"Wouldn't answer us, and when Hax...did something he took off like a shot."

Ratchet sighed. "I knew this was a bad idea. I just thought it would be Hax that..."

He trailed off when he realised a certain smaller member of their party was missing.

"Slaggit! When did he run off?"

* * *

"You know, this trick doesn't work so well now that I have a body."

"...Shut up."

Deuce was huddled up in his rafters, arms wrapped around his legs. Hax gave him a once over, before sighing and huddling up next to him.

"I may not be in your head any more, but that doesn't mean you get to keep things from me."

Deuce didn't answer, just curled up more.

"What happened? Why'd you freak out?"

His red half mumbled, and Hax frowned.

"Wanna say that at a decibel that's audible?"

"...mons."

"...one more time?"

Deuce tensed up, and swung round, grabbing Hax by the shoulders.

"Simmons!"

Hax blinked.

"What?"

"It was Simmons! I saw him!"

"Deuce, that's impossible" Hax tried to soothe. "He's all locked away a million miles from-"

"I know what I saw!" Deuce shrieked. "He was right there."

Hax sighed, and pried Deuce's fingers from his paint job.

"Okay. Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to talk to Ratchet and make sure you're not...not damaged. And then we can talk to Optimus, and prove that Simmons was. Not. There. That sound good?"

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S FREE!"

"Hax!" Ratchet snapped, and Hax flinched.

"What? I think I'm inclined to be just a little bit upset."

"Deuce, Hax" Optimus began. "We upped security. Keller has promised to keep us informed of any sightings. You were never in any danger."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Deuce's voice was flat and emotionless. It was almost worse than seething anger.

"Deuce..." Optimus began. "You were doing so well...we were afraid of what might happen if you felt you were at risk."

Deuce's hands began to clench.

"I **am** at risk if he's out there. He's coming for me again, I know it."

"Deuce – I promise you that he won't-"

"You lied to me..."

"Deuce...please try to-"

The Youngling fell and slammed his hands into the ground. The impact of metal echoing through the room only deafened by his scream.

"You lied! That's all there is too it! You lied!"

Before any of them could react, he turned and fled, a harried Hax on his tail.

Jazz hung his head, and pulled back on Bumblebee's arm when he made to follow the two. Slowly, he looked up at Optimus, optics dim.

"What do we do now big bot?"

Optimus was still staring at the door the two had fled through.

"...I really don't know."

* * *

_To be continued..._


End file.
